Return Forbidden
by birdie-and-the-reaper
Summary: Three months from where 'Fate Allowed' left off, The 'intrepid trio' are accidently sent to Romania, where they meet an eerily familiar, professional werewolf-killer!
1. Before the Storm

Hee hee hee! A sequel!  
  
Hey everyone! I'm back! First off, it's NOT absolutely necessary to read 'Fate Allowed' to understand this, although it would help...  
  
If you want to read the original, just click on the button located somewhere above this sentence, scroll down, ignore all the Gundam Wing and Count Cain (Unless your into that stuff, in which case, read it cos it's brilliant) if you can be bothered... (It's quite long, if you like that sort of thing)  
  
And for those of you who HAVE read 'Fate Allowed', you will enjoy such events as cheating at Quidditch, extended family, mutilating money, a ~deluxe~ pensieve, the rival gangs of the 70's Slytherins, and the return of a certain Spaniard who just doesn't seem to be able to go on a nice holiday.  
  
O.k. well other people will enjoy those things too, but you all know what I mean, well you all know I'm insane anyway.  
  
Right, warnings and summaries and stuff (No one's actually reading this note, are they?)  
  
Title: Return Forbidden /Chapter: Before The Storm  
  
Type: Action/Adventure/Drama/Angst 'n' stuff...  
  
Rating: PG-13 (Have I ever written anything else?)  
  
Pairings: No main character pairings, no slash (Birdie: NOOOOOOOOO!)  
  
Warnings: Some mild violence, some semi-severe violence, some torture (But not as much as in 'Fate Allowed') some colourful language, AU (Padfoot's ALIVE!)  
  
Author: Uhh, that'd be me...  
  
Spoilers: Books 3-5 (yeah, like there's anyone who hasn't read them) Mild spoilers for my other fic...  
  
Summary: After Draco Malfoy decides to cheat at Quidditch and send Harry to the Sahara desert (As heard of in the books) The spell goes horribly wrong and Harry, Ron, and Hermione end up in Romania where they meet several strange and oddly familiar characters, but when Remus, oblivious to the danger, comes with Sirius and the twins to collect them... horror and chaos reigns all...  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah... about that... well as soon as my world domination plans go underway my number one priority is controlling Harry Potter (E.T.C) but for now I own a lovely white cottony straight-jacket, Birdie tucks me in every night with... I also recently came in to possession of a great idea for global conquest! You see, if I was to start by destroying the Swedish football team then-  
  
Birdie: Start the stupid fic you psycho!  
  
Reaper: O.K.! (She's just upset I got 64 reviews for 'Fate Allowed' 64! Thank you people!)  
  
***********************************  
  
November 11th, 1996, Number twelve, Grimmauld place, London...  
  
***********************************  
  
"FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, DESECRATING THE NOBLE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!!!"  
  
Remus cracked an eye open, silently dreading what inevitably was coming. He glanced to the old grandfather clock in his room. Two forty-five A.M. Yes, this was bad...  
  
"Three, two, one..." He whispered groggily to himself  
  
"THAT'S IT YOU BITCH! I'LL RIP YOU APART WITH MY BARE HANDS IF I HAVE TO!!!"  
  
And there went Sirius' good mood for the rest of the day.  
  
Sighing, Remus pulled himself up, noticing with distaste that he had once again fallen asleep at his desk. He pushed open the door, ignoring the stinging feeling the light brought to his eyes, witch had been unused for the past... well, it had to have been four hours at least this time.  
  
Trying not to fall down he stairs and split his head open, or break his neck, he felt his way down the familiar passages to where several of the others were already gathered round the infamous portrait of Agatha Black.  
  
"Hey Will..." He muttered to his friend  
  
"Oh 'ey Remy..." Will slurred back.  
  
"Don't call me Remy..." Remy murmured, though it went unheard by Will.  
  
Pushing past Daniel and Toby, (who were swearing heavily at being woken up so late, or rather, early) and Tonks, who was also up, (though, being a morning person, she wasn't so... what's the word? Oh yeah... Pissed off) Remus grabbed Sirius' shoulder and began to drag him away. Sirius predictably started protesting:  
  
"But Moony-"  
  
"No,"  
  
"Moo-oony-"  
  
"No,"  
  
"Oh, come on-"  
  
"No,"  
  
"But-"  
  
"No,"  
  
"Rem-"  
  
"No," He then silenced the animagus with the 'you know you can't win' look  
  
Sirius let out several whines like a small child, and then started poking the werewolf relentlessly, but Remus wasn't one to give up easily, and he merely dragged his friend out of the corridor.  
  
"Ree-mus!!!" Sirius whined.  
  
"Tomorrow, Sirius..." He said exasperatedly  
  
The two friends made their way up to Sirius' bedroom, passing Kreacher on the way, who was trying to hide a silver chandelier in his tunic, even though it was three times his own size. After that unfortunate incident in February, Remus had become extra sensitive to silver, and his hand flew to his head as the nausea hit.  
  
"KREACHER!" Yelled Sirius angrily, "I've told you a million times! NO SILVER ORNAMENTS!!!"  
  
"Kreacher was being loyal to-"  
  
"Oh, shut-up!" Snapped Sirius, no longer being forcibly dragged, and instead starting to drag Remus.  
  
As soon as Remus moved away from the silver, he felt fine again. Typical... Strangely enough, he used to like silver when he was small, more mysterious and charismatic than gold, and even more strangely; he still preferred it to gold. Gold was too flashy for his taste. It had, of course, all changed when he was bitten.  
  
"All right Moony?" asked Sirius, noticing his friend's reflective expression,  
  
"Fine..." Sighed Remus, wishing it was the truth.  
  
"No you're not," Laughed Sirius bitterly, "In case you forgot, which I know you didn't, there's a full moon tomorrow night, you should be resting... In fact, why are we going to my room any way? We should be putting you back to bed, you're the one who should be sleeping!"  
  
Remus groaned softly, Sirius had gone back to mother hen mode, and he thought he had been safe!  
  
"Sirius, I wont be getting any sleep this night, I might as well just go and make myself some coffee..." Ahh... Coffee, the elixir of life  
  
"You know this means you're probably going to pass out in the middle of the day, and I'm going to have to haul your arse up several floors to the attic,"  
  
"Lazy bum-hole..."  
  
"Am not!" Sirius said, mock offended "Anyway, I'm going to have to say this; dear old Snivellus at least has one use, making that potion for you lot!"  
  
"Don't Sirius, Severus is already miserable enough having to make wolfsbane potion for eighteen werewolves, he probably spends most of his free time making that potion..."  
  
"You know I still don't know about that potion, I looked over the ingredients, and you know what it contains?"  
  
"Ooh, a guessing game, oh joy..."  
  
"Deadly nightshade,"  
  
"Painkiller"  
  
"Whatever... what if he puts, I don't know... Hemlock... or-"  
  
"You obviously didn't look over the ingredients that well, Padfoot-"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Hemlock is already one of the ingredients, you idiot..."  
  
"Oh. Well, -"  
  
"Goodnight Padfoot"  
  
Sirius shook his head disapprovingly "Night Remy"  
  
"Don't call me Remy,"  
  
Sirius laughed, "Sure thing Moony ole' buddy ole' pal"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes as his best friend went back in to his room. The werewolf headed towards the kitchen to boil some water. The last months had been trying; all eighteen of the werewolves and Sirius had been cooped up in the house with practically nothing to do. If only the ministry would listen to Dumbledore... Remus sighed. Fudge had been particularly aggrieved when Will had broken his nose, Umbridge (Who was still tragically teaching at Hogwarts) the same.  
  
On the positive side, Sirius was no longer acting so depressing now that there were others to share the house with. He was especially taken with the children, who reminded him of the marauders when they were younger. The Weasleys hadn't stayed at the house that summer, but Tonks was still in her own room on the fourth floor.  
  
And speaking of the Weasleys, he was very pleased to say that all nine of them had been brought back together, with Percy becoming one of their most important spies within the ministry, having the assignment to personally watch the minister for any word of new regulations or other phenomena. They really didn't want a repeat of what happened in February.  
  
Since Will and Isabelle got married, everyone had been a lot happier. Last year had been an all round depressing year, and Remus supposed that this was either the light at the end of the tunnel, or the calm before the storm.  
  
Either way it didn't explain the dreams he'd been having lately, dreams of someone he used to know very well. Better than most, and yet less than he would have liked. But if these dreams were any indication to the future, Remus wasn't looking forward to the reunion, in fact, lately he had suffered several bouts of shaking, at which he was prone to drop what ever he was holding (Though luckily nothing breakable) and have to sit down for a few minutes. This hadn't happened since before... Never mind  
  
He poured the coffee in to a mug. Eighth time that hag had woken him up and fourth time he had fallen asleep at his desk that month. And it was only the eleventh.  
  
Yes, this was the calm before the storm.  
  
*********************************************  
  
Meanwhile, Slytherin common room, Hogwarts...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was almost ready.  
  
Soon the spell would be complete and then it would be bye-bye Potty boy, welcome to the Sahara desert.  
  
He just needed to wait for the full moon, and then he could perform the last part of the ritual and open the rift.  
  
A rift in space would be enough to get Potter out of his way, now this was how to cheat at Quidditch! He'd just need to perform a simple location spell, and that would be the end of Dumbledore's favourite boy. Perhaps if he were lucky he'd get rid of that poverty stricken fool Weasley, and that Mudblood know-it-all Granger.  
  
It was too bad he wouldn't get to play Quidditch with the idiot, he would really have loved to show the swot up, show him how the game was really played.  
  
He snickered evilly in the dim light, Potter would rue the day he ever met Draco Malfoy.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Gryffindor common room, same time, same place...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were staying up late at night, celebrating the lift on Harry's lifetime Quidditch ban. I had been nice of professor Dumbledore to say to Umbridge that Harry had valiantly tried to protect her and the minister from those dangerous werewolves, who tragically escaped in the confusion.  
  
Harry, of course, hadn't cared much at the time, being fixated on the fact that one of his favourite 'protectors' was on the brink of death.  
  
Ginny had stayed on the team as chaser, along with Katie Bell and a fourth year called Ruby Lawley, replacing Angelina, who had graduated. Ron was still Keeper, and they had two new third year beaters, much better than the substitutes they had used last year, who went by the names of Patrick Lyle and Nick Hart.  
  
The first match of the year was going to be played against Slytherin, and seeing as they had never lost a match against Slytherin before, Harry was definitely in a good mood.  
  
"Well, you may be happy about this," Said Hermione stiffly "But last time we played against Slytherin you ended up with a life-time ban. What if that happens again?"  
  
"It wont 'Mione" Assured Ron "I'm a much better keeper now, so even if they sing their little song, we'll all know they're lying"  
  
"What if he starts insulting our families again?" Asked Hermione worriedly  
  
"Well," said Harry "We sort of 'employed' Nick and Patrick to hold us back if that happens"  
  
"Employed?"  
  
"Never mind!" Said Ron, going very red.  
  
Harry was trying to stop himself from laughing; there was no way anything was going to go wrong tomorrow.  
  
If only he knew...  
  
***********************************  
  
Reaper: Ooh... what's going to happen, oh wait... I already know Hahaha... and you don't... well too bad for you...  
  
Birdie: a couple of measly reviews and she thinks she's the best author on Ffn.net...  
  
Reaper: I do not! Many thanks to all who reviewed 'Fate Allowed' and I hope you're all reading this one!  
  
Birdie: But don't review her, she really shouldn't have more than me...  
  
Reaper: I'm going to look past that one, and pass it off as an attempt at reverse psychology...  
  
Birdie: *Cough* I'm sleepy, good night... where's your straightjacket Reaper?  
  
Reaper: Umm... yeah... It's somewhere around here... oh here it is! Behind the sacrificial alter!  
  
Birdie: *Alarmed* What sacrificial alter?!  
  
Reaper: Just kidding! *Smiles as she remembers the time she tried to sacrifice Birdie at the summer extravaganza in year 6* Hey, everyone, I was wondering about that new 'No author note chapters' rule, do you think they'll remove stories that have 'Author note chapters' that had been put up before the rule began? Coz there's two of them in 'Fate Allowed' and I'd really that story WASN'T removed! I also don't think you can just remove chapters, I tried it before and you can't... what do you think?  
  
Birdie: I just hope they don't delete our account because of your stupidity!  
  
Reaper: Grrrrr... I'll deal with you later... next chapter will be longer, it'll be up by about this time next week... R+R if you think my story merits it! 


	2. When Fair is Foul

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS HAVE BEGUN! YAY!  
  
Birdie: I thought you said you hated the Christmas holidays; your dad makes you go to his house and see your family...  
  
Reaper: Well, it's not for the WHOLE holidays, and besides... after Christmas, my 'dear' pater is going to Boston for SIX to SEVEN MONTHS!!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! All the way to another continent! Way, way across the Atlantic... hee hee hee...  
  
On with the chapter, and it's basically straight into the action:  
  
********************************  
  
November 12th, Hogwarts, early morning...  
  
********************************  
  
As usual, the bleachers were packed with Hogwarts students on the day of the first match of the year. And as usual, tensions were high. Gryffindor versus Slytherin was always the tensest match of the year, which was why it was always held first, so the teams wouldn't spend an entire school year building up the hatred.  
  
The normal scheme of events had been disrupted at the end of Harry's third year, due to Malfoy's skiving.  
  
And although Harry had never lost to Slytherin, and barely to anyone else, he was still immensely nervous about the upcoming match. Partly because Slytherins were such dirty cheaters, partly because Umbridge was already sceptical on his worth as a model Quidditch player, and the next permanent bar may be actually permanent.  
  
He needn't have worried so much, but then, he didn't know what was going to happen.  
  
He would have attempted to truant if he had.  
  
"Come on Harry, Katie says if you don't hurry up, she'll strangle you in your sleep tonight!" Harry looked up to see Ruby Lawley's curly haired head poking in the doorway.  
  
"I'll be right there Ruby" He assured her; she was looking very nervous, probably as this was her first match.  
  
She nodded and left. Harry sighed and ruffled his untidy hair, wishing he could go back to bed and forget he existed. As he making for his firebolt, he was pleased, and somewhat lightened to see Ron and Hermione in the doorway.  
  
"Just wanted to wish you two good luck," Hermione said with a smile. Harry smiled back,  
  
"Nice to know you still care about me"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes, while Ron let out a 'Hmph' of disdain  
  
"WE don't need luck, we're too bloody brilliant!" He said enthusiastically,  
  
Hermione put her hand up to her head, as if to soothe a headache "Ron, last year you thought you were rubbish, this year your gods gift... make up your mind!"  
  
Ron would have come up with a brilliant retort (maybe) when they were interrupted by one of the banes of their existence.  
  
Draco Malfoy.  
  
In the time to come, Harry would wonder why he didn't do something quicker. /Why/ he would wonder /why didn't I act? I should have known he was up to more than just verbal sparring, I should have realised.../  
  
But he didn't, and although he was confused as to why Malfoy just strode up to him without the usual insults, he didn't realise that Malfoy was about to engage in something infinitely more sinister.  
  
He began to worry when Hermione stood up and screamed. There was something in Malfoy's hands, a key of some sort, a silver-ish one engraved with emeralds in some sort of design, but Harry couldn't focus on the key that much because it all happened so fast.  
  
So fast that there was hardly anything he could describe, simply that Malfoy came in with a smug smirking expression, held up an object, yelled something Harry couldn't be bothered to remember...  
  
And then (With Hermione shrieking something about the instability of portal- door spells) the room exploded into defined colour.  
  
**********************************  
  
"Something's coming Sirius" Said Remus worriedly "And I don't think it will be easy either"  
  
Sirius sighed, "Since when were you a seer, Moony?" He asked jokingly  
  
But Remus had already gone back to sleep.  
  
"Well isn't that nice..." Sirius muttered to himself, "He wakes up for about ten seconds to inform me of some catastrophic event yet to come, then falls back to sleep... Hmph!" He put an extra note of disdain on the last onomatopoeia.  
  
Tonks rolled her eyes "How would you feel if you had to go through a devastatingly painful transformation every month for no good reason?" She snapped "I bet he wouldn't be saying that if it were you, and besides, something /is/ coming you know... we all know that..."  
  
Sirius smiled /You don't know the marauders, Tonks/ he thought humorously " 'Spect it's that time of the month for you too, eh Tonks?" He laughed.  
  
"Oh SHUT-UP!" she yelled, her tone escalating in volume, making Sirius jump back, afraid for his life.  
  
He would have burst out laughing if Albus Dumbledore hadn't unexpectedly appeared at that very moment, with a look graver than any Sirius had ever seen.  
  
And Sirius would have been surprised, if it wasn't for all the times Dumbledore had done this in the past.  
  
Tonks sighed, dreading whatever ill news brought by the old wizard.  
  
Dumbledore waited for what seemed like a millennia to speak, apparently having difficulty with finding the right words.  
  
"We have an unexpected development," He forced out "There has been an accident. It involves Harry Potter..."  
  
Sirius snapped out of his semi-interested state, and sat bolt upright, though nothing could prepare him for what he was about to hear.  
  
*************************************************  
  
Harry regained his senses in a bleak field; somewhere that was obviously not Hogwarts.  
  
Cursing Malfoy's ancestors, he looked about for Ron and Hermione, finding them in a dazed state a few feet from where he was standing.  
  
"Alright Ron?" He asked  
  
No answer  
  
"Alright Ron?" His tone was noticeably more urgent  
  
"All right Harry," Ron gasped out, staring wildly at their surroundings. Harry let out a sigh of relief, that Ron had not suddenly become catatonic. Predictably, Ron started to panic.  
  
"What the HELL is going on here, Hermione? Where the hell are we? What was that Malfoy had? How are we going to get home? What is the meaning-"?  
  
"RON!" Hermione yelled, revealing that she wasn't catatonic either, "I'll explain it to you if you calm down!"  
  
"CALM DOWN!!! WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE, AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?"  
  
"Yes Ron," Said Hermione exasperatedly "I would appreciate it if you didn't lose your marbles..."  
  
Harry, though also extremely shocked at recent events, was almost becoming used to these situations, so he was almost perfectly calm when he asked Hermione what had just happened.  
  
"Hermione, What just happened?" He asked.  
  
"Weeeeeell..." Said Hermione slowly "Has Ron ever told you that sometimes in Quidditch league matches, players and referees have been known to vanish, and turn up months later in the Sahara desert?"  
  
Harry brought his hands up to meet his head, "Don't tell me..." He pleaded,  
  
"Well, it appears that we're not in the Sahara desert at any rate..." Hermione said, in an attempt to be cheerful  
  
Harry's green eyes roamed across their surroundings. In front of them, all they could see was a bleak, depressing, pale, foggy field that seemed to go on ad infinitum. Behind them, the field went on for a few metres before giving way to a sinister looking forest, darker than Harry had ever remembered seeing the forbidden one.  
  
Hermione folded her arms, also surveying the land, "By the looks of things, I'd say we were still in the country!"*  
  
Harry groaned, and turned off to one side, wishing there was a wall on which he could bang his head on.  
  
Suddenly, two dark blurry shapes caught his eye, moving through the fog briskly. He tapped Ron's arm silently. "We're not alone..." He muttered  
  
Hermione noticed too, and much to Harry's horror, called out to it.  
  
"Hello! Hello, is there any one there? My friends and I are lost!" She cried. The two blurs quickened their pace, revealing themselves to be two people.  
  
"Hermione!" Hissed the other two simultaneously. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand hastily, a guilty look in her eyes.  
  
The three huddled together closer, hearts racing in anticipation.  
  
But they needn't have worried, it turned out to be only two dark-haired children, of about eleven or twelve years, a girl and a boy.  
  
It was hard to tell who was more shocked, the boy and girl (Who were obviously not used to having strangers randomly appear in their field) or the intrepid trio (Who were blatantly not used to meeting two little kids in the middle of no where)  
  
Hermione broke the silence. "Ummm, excuse me..." She started, "But... are your parents any where nearby, by any chance?" She asked hopefully  
  
The children exchanged glances, the boy spoke up first, "Ummm," He began "Uhh, they're right across the field... there..." He pointed nervously in the direction he and his companion had just come from.  
  
The girl decided that her parents would know what to do better than her and her brother, "This way," She whispered "Follow us..."  
  
It was difficult following the children in the fog, but somehow, the three of them managed it. Hermione was, however, eager for more information, so she began to question the children  
  
"Ummm, if it's not too much to ask, uhh... Where are we?"  
  
The children exchanged glances again the boy was the one who spoke, "Oh, you'd be, about... fifty miles northwest of Alba Luila..." He explained.  
  
The three gave him a blank look  
  
"In Alba..." The girl explained, still meeting with nothing but confused stares "Romania..." She clarified further.  
  
ROMANIA!!!???  
  
Hermione gasped. Ron turned to her with a murderous look  
  
"Still in the country?!" He hissed "Still in the country?!"  
  
Harry groaned miserably. Where was that wall when you needed it?  
  
*******************************************************  
  
*Ahh yes, the wonderful British countryside...  
  
*******************************************  
  
Reaper: I HAVE TO LEAVE IN 2 HOURS!!! I haven't CHANGED, I haven't PACKED, I haven't checked this chapter for TYPOS, and I haven't logged on to my ACCOUNT!  
  
*faints*  
  
Birdie: Oh well, I suppose I'd better do it... Thanx to Blank, This Parrot has ceased to be, roobes, and anyone else that liked Reapers story *mutters* all those silly people, Ha-ha Reaper's unconscious, so I can insult her reviewers! Oh you stupid people! You should be reading MY stories, MINE, ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!  
  
Reaper: *Waking up* My precious?  
  
Birdie: NO!  
  
Reaper: I just thought... HEY! You can't insult my reviewers! My wonderful reviewers who took about three minutes of their lives to review me! Wish me luck at my nightmare house! Good-bye, See you all in January! 


	3. Is't Nights Predominance?

Ughhh, back from the house of hate and despair, forced to stay there for a whole DAY more than was originally planned for no apparent reason.  
  
I hate my family. I wish I could have Remus' 'No Hate' attitude towards my family, but... I'm afraid mine is more like Sirius. The poor soul.  
  
Well I'm bloody happy I'm back, so... today I'm going to answer reviews at the beginning of my story:  
  
DBZruler66: Ahh, sugar, you can never have too much... don't worry, it won't end here! Thank you for all eternity for putting this silly little story on your favourites list, it means a lot ^_^ enjoy the chapter!^_^  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: Hmm, well about the English thing, you'll find out in this chapter, it's all part of the plan. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! And to clarify, 'Birdie' and 'The Reaper' are most definitely two people. You see, we were a little nervous about starting an account on our own, so we began one together. If you click on our pen name you'll see the ones I wrote (Like this one, and 'Fate Allowed') and a whole bunch of anime that Birdie did. We're just best friends and we make up these author notes together. But, we ARE both completely mad... Mwa ha ha ha ha ha (No prizes for guessing who's more insane)  
  
Birdie: *Cough*  
  
Anyway, Oh and, -blah- are words in Romanian, not just nonsense words I put in for no reason. Back to the story...  
  
******************************  
  
Chapter Three: Is't Night's Predominance?  
  
The middle of nowhere, Romania  
  
******************************  
  
Tatiana was highly confused. She and Robert were just walking along, discussing Shakespeare (There wasn't much to do when you were seven miles from any form of civilisation, unless you counted the murderous werewolves in the forest) When out of the fog, a teenage girl's voice had begun calling out for aid.  
  
In English!  
  
Nobody /she/ knew spoke English, except for her father and paternal grandfather. They were the ones that had taught it to her and Robert and her cousins as a second language, probably because they themselves were British, and wanted to be reminded of their homeland.  
  
Although Robert and herself would sometimes come across young Bulgarian students practising apparation across long distances, who went too far north, (usually from Durmstrang) they had never before met any British or even French students who went this far off target.  
  
And judging by the school crests they had on their robes, a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake all curling around the letter 'H', they were from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Taught by the infamous Albus Dumbledore, or, 'That mad, werewolf-loving old codger' as her grandfather would say. Though Tatiana was never quite sure what was so terrible about Dumbledore, he seemed okay, from what she'd read about him.  
  
'Don't believe everything you read' grandfather would remark. She never got any further with the mystery of why Hogwarts was such a terrible place. Her father was even less responsive on the matter.  
  
Suddenly, Robert grabbed her arm forcefully, a suspicious look in his eyes,  
  
"They're from Hogwarts!" He hissed under his breath, Tatiana marvelled at his perceptivity, "We should just tell them to -se duce-, you know what that sort are like!"  
  
"-Nyet-, not really, we've never met any before..." She pointed out, with a roll of her eyes.  
  
"Honestly Tattie!" He groaned, using her abominable pet-name "Have you ever listened to a word -bunic- told us these past -unsprezece- years?"  
  
"Bunic pays his taxes with leprechaun gold, Robert, I hardly think he's that trustworthy..."she said exasperatedly  
  
"Werewolf-lovers and -betiv's-!" He snarled  
  
"They don't seem that drunk to me," She observed coolly, glancing back at the confused looking, but apparently sober (Though Ron was beginning to wish otherwise) three students "And stop mixing your languages," She snapped "It's unseemly..."  
  
Robert shrunk back, the last thing he wanted to seem was unseemly, as his sister knew... he valued father's opinion of him more than anything, and father couldn't stand unseemliness.  
  
Tatiana rolled her eyes again, wishing that the popular belief that all twins were inseparable best friends, was true, but sadly, Robert and Tatiana were never really that close. 'Runs in the family' as father would say. Drawing up another blank, as she and Robert and two of her cousins were the only twins in the family, (and it was a VERY big family) the cousins were seven months old, and father had been telling them that all their lives. So who were the other twins?  
  
Mother didn't understand either, and the with the amount of deep dark secrets kept in her family, she knew better than to pry from everyone she could, and just left it alone.  
  
After adding it to her list of things she was not supposed to know.  
  
And it was a long list.  
  
***********************  
  
They had been walking for several minutes, listening to the two twins bicker amongst themselves in a garbled mixture of English and Romanian.  
  
Harry decided to try and make contact with the twins, who were arguing with far more aggression than before. From what he could tell, the boy was intent on abandoning them in the forest to be eaten by 'lycanthropes' whatever they were. The girl, much to Harry's relief, wanted to take them to someone who could help them get home.  
  
"So... Umm..." He began. The twins didn't hear him. He began again, a little louder: "Ahem, umm, my name's Harry," He started. Names seemed as good a place as any to start.  
  
The twins spun around. The boy threw a suspicious glance at his sister, He hissed something in her ear, and she rolled her eyes.  
  
"I am Tatiana," She announced, "This is my brother, Robert" He detected a slight hint of a sneer on the 'Robert' and got the feeling that they didn't get along too well.  
  
"I'm Ron" Said Ron "And that's Hermione" He indicated towards Hermione, who was looking a little flustered.  
  
The twins exchanged confused looks.  
  
"Herm-own-ninny" Tried Tatiana.  
  
Harry and Ron tried to hold the laughter back. They failed miserably. Hermione brought her hand up to her head and sighed, Harry caught the word 'Krum' under her breath.  
  
"I am sorry," Said Tatiana apologetically "Do you have a short name?" She asked  
  
Hermione frowned, and thought hard, " 'Mione," She said finally  
  
"My short name is Tanya" Tatiana said with disgust "Unless you're Robert, in which case it's Tattie" She shook her head "But please keep it as Tatiana,"  
  
"Sure," Said Harry "So... do you go to school around here?" he asked  
  
"Well, actually we go to Durmstrang" She said. Hermione gasped...  
  
"Do you know Viktor Krum?" She asked in a very high-pitched voice, as Harry and Ron exchanged amused glances.  
  
"Who doesn't?" Asked Tatiana with a laugh "I know OF him, but he left school two years ago, and this is my first year,"  
  
"Why aren't you there now?" Asked Harry  
  
"First year holiday," she explained "And, Oh! Look! We are here!"  
  
And they looked. A building began to emerge out of the fog. Harry couldn't believe his eyes, he stood there, staring like an idiot. He hadn't stared like that since the first time he saw Hogwarts.  
  
"You live /here/?" Asked Ron, in complete awe  
  
"It's very...big..." Observed Hermione  
  
"...Yeah..." Ended Harry  
  
Well, big was one way of describing it. Harry assumed that Ron would almost envy living in a place like that, except for the fact that Ron wasn't a sadistic executioner. And that was whom Harry supposed built Tatiana's ...house.............mansion...........lair...  
  
Big was one way of describing it. Ominous, dark, foreboding, depressing, frightening, and horrifyingly grim were also apt descriptions of the place. The fog did not help.  
  
There was a grey polished stone path, with different stones in irregular shapes, leading up to the main entrance. Said entrance was a large double door, made of some very dark material with silver vine patterns creeping up the edges. The doors were set at the top of some stone steps and a veranda held up by some black pillars.  
  
There were two large stain glass windows at the front of the house. It was quite wide, and at the back there were several large towers on the left side. Harry couldn't see how far back it went, but he assumed quite far. Also, the entire building had solid black curves jutting out from some of the edges and corners, making it look like the entire estate was wearing a black cloak.  
  
Obviously the architect belonged in a mental asylum, or Azkaban, or a bottomless pit. The mansion made Harry think of Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Malfoy. Stupid slytherin son of a-  
  
"Umm, Tatiana..." Said Ron "Is there a town nearby we could go to instead, you know, to the-"  
  
"Yeah, pretty -infricosator- isn't it?" Asked Robert with a bit of a sneer. Tatiana glared at him.  
  
"Scary," She explained to them, "And I have to say, when you haven't lived here all your life, it would seem very scary..."  
  
"Uh huh..." Agreed Harry, still in shock.  
  
"Don't worry about it!" Assured Tatiana "There aren't any vampires or werewolves hidden under the stairs or anything!" She gave a little laugh and raced up the steps calling:  
  
"Mama! Mama! -Matusa- Victoria!"  
  
The three exchanged glances, shrugged, and ran after her.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Hissed Ron  
  
"Well it's not like we have a choice!" Hermione shot back irritably  
  
Ron gave Harry a look, then suddenly looked past him and gasped,  
  
"Ughhh!" He exclaimed "What the hell is that!?"  
  
Harry swivelled around and looked behind him, Tatiana looked back,  
  
"What is it?" She called  
  
Good question. It seemed to be a path leading to some sort of garden, but it was a sculpture garden. And the stone sculptures in the garden looked like they had been made by the same bloke who designed the house.  
  
Harry had seen stone gargoyles before, almost comic looking with those bulging eyes and sticking out tongues, but these weren't like that. These were almost life-like: narrow eyed, enormous muscular models with razor sharp fangs and ripped wings. One of them actually had a sculpture of a severed arm in its mouth.  
  
But not just gargoyles, there were monsters Harry couldn't name, there were a few hippogriffs, a painted thestral with a silver saddle, there was a sculpture of a woman with a terrified look on her face, positioned on the ground, shrinking back from some unknown terror with one of her sleeves hanging off her dress. There were also sculptures of vampires and werewolves, but in those sculptures, said monster would always be pictured dead, being stabbed or axed or beheaded.  
  
It was actually quite sickening. The sculptor was obviously very talented, and obviously very psychotic.  
  
"Oh, that..." Said Tatiana, with a look of something in her eyes. What it was, Harry couldn't figure out. Shame, perhaps? "That's nothing..."  
  
"Nothing?" Gasped Ron incredulously  
  
Robert narrowed his eyes, looking a little insulted. Surely /he/ hadn't made these? He began to speak, rather coldly:  
  
"Every -femeie- in our family has sculpted," he snapped "For many generations! Their work is -benefic- above all other sculptors in -Vraja Romania-!"  
  
"Stop mixing languages!" Tatiana snapped  
  
Perhaps it wasn't such a good thing they had run into the twins, Tatiana seemed alright, but Robert was a bit of a brat, and looking at the sculptures, the rest of the family were sadistic lunatics. Ron was looking around at the sculptures with open shock and disgust, Hermione had her head down, no longer being able to look at the horrific scene, while Harry looked in vain for a model that wasn't so... unsettling  
  
"Hey look, that one's not to bad..." He called out  
  
Miraculously, after surveying the garden long enough he had found one that was hidden in the shadows, covered in vines and lichen. It was a .. well after wracking his brains he came to rest on 'druid', a woman wearing a hooded cloak, with a few strands of hair artfully coming loose from the hood. She had a sad look in her eyes (Sad look? She was made of stone? But they all looked so real...) but was otherwise not too horrific.  
  
"Oh yeah..." Said Ron with an air of surprise "Who made that one?"  
  
Tatiana shrugged nonchalantly and motioned for them to come inside.  
  
"Come on, the sooner you get in, the sooner we can get you home..."  
  
And Harry felt like he couldn't be happier doing anything else.  
  
*********************************  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING WHERE HE IS???!!!" Thundered Sirius, raising the hairs on the back of Remus' neck slightly.  
  
"Sirius, you have to understand," Said Dumbledore calmly "Mr. Malfoy's spell went wrong. We can't even determine whether they're alive or-"  
  
"DON'T SAY IT!!!" Sirius roared.  
  
Remus frowned and leant his head on the table. Everything inside him screamed that something terrible was happening, that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in some mortal peril. He wanted to walk forward and calm Sirius down, but his own feelings were too intense to move. If he moved, he knew he'd start crying, and he hadn't cried since...  
  
When had he last cried? It hadn't been when Lily and James died, he had been way too far drawn into the depths of despair for that, no it had to have been before... it must have been when...  
  
"No, I have to agree with Sirius," Tonks was stating "We shouldn't just stand around, we should go out and look-"  
  
"And where do you suppose we start?" Said Severus icily, not too worried as Potter was practically impossible to kill, "Start sniffing around on our hands and knees in the middle of the Caribbean? Or the Pacific ocean..."  
  
"Well it's better than sitting around doing nothing-"  
  
"I beg to differ-"  
  
"Look, it's my little brother out there-"  
  
"Not to mention our only hope of defeating You-know-who-"  
  
"I know perfectly well who's out there-"  
  
"I suppose you're happy about this, Snivellus, a piece of good news for you to tell your master-"  
  
"How dare you-!"  
  
"We still have to tell Mr. and Mrs. Granger that their daughter is missing- "  
  
And then Molly Weasley burst in to a fresh bout of tears and snuggled closer to her husband for comfort.  
  
/Why Harry?/ Thought Remus miserably.  
  
"Oh for gods sake woman, would you just SHUT UP!"  
  
"HOW DARE YOU-"  
  
/Why me?/.......  
  
*********************************  
  
Thankfully, Tatiana's interior decorator, though a little obsessed with wolf-hunting, was otherwise not as mentally unstable as the architect, and the inside of the house was almost pleasant (The numerous wolf heads mounted on the wall, notwithstanding.)  
  
Hermione was confusing him a little, she kept on staring down as if there were some of those sculptures were littered about the hall, but then... Well she was a girl,* maybe the garden was a traumatic experience for her.  
  
Tatiana brought them to a sitting room and sat them down on a comfortable expensive-looking sofa.  
  
"You wait here," She told them, "My father, grandfather, and uncles are away, but the women should be in..." Then she broke off, running down the hall shouting:  
  
"Mama! -Matusa-Victoria! -Matusa-Bernice! -Matusa-Ariadne! Oh where is everyone? Grandmother! -Matusa-Anetka! -Matusa-Natalya!"  
  
As soon as she was gone Hermione turned to them angrily  
  
"How stupid are you two?!" She hissed  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances, were they being thick again without realising?  
  
"What?" asked Ron  
  
"The mounts you fools, the mounts!"  
  
Harry looked around at the mounted wolf heads,  
  
"What about the wolf heads?" Asked Ron  
  
"They're not wolf heads you morons!" she snapped "They're /Werewolf/ heads, you can tell by the snout!"  
  
Harry gasped and reeled back, staring at Hermione as if she'd suddenly sprouted spaghetti from her nostrils. His thoughts immediately travelled to Lupin and his stomach lurched.  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick..." Said Ron weakly  
  
Unable to keep the thought of Lupin's head mounted on a wall, Harry was pretty much sharing the same feeling as Ron. What the hell was this?  
  
"T-Tatian-Tatiana!" He called frantically  
  
Her head appeared in the doorway  
  
"Yes?" She answered  
  
"Umm, about the werewolf heads..."  
  
"Oh that?" She asked, with the same look in her eyes as when they had first noticed the sculpture garden  
  
"Well, I hope you're not werewolf sympathisers, the men in our family have been professional werewolf exterminators since the fourteenth century..."  
  
**************************************  
  
*Not being sexist here, I happen to be a girl...  
  
Birdie: You are?  
  
Reaper: Oh shut up!  
  
***************Romanian Dictionary******************  
  
-Se duce- = Go away  
  
-Nyet- = No  
  
-Bunic- = Grandfather  
  
-Unprezece- = Eleven  
  
-Betiv's- = Drunkards  
  
-Infricosator- = Scary  
  
-Matusa- = Aunt  
  
-Femeie- = Woman  
  
-Benefic- = Favoured  
  
-Vraja Romania- = 'Magic Romania' I made this up, it's supposed to mean, like, the magical community of Romania  
  
***********************************  
  
Well, hope you all enjoyed... next chapter should be up this time next week!  
  
Hope you all had better holidays than I did! 


	4. Or Days Shame?

All right people! Chapter four!  
  
Not going to bother with a long authors note this time...  
  
Viewers (And Birdie) : Yay!  
  
Reaper: Yeah yeah yeah... on with the story  
  
**************************  
  
Chapter four: Or Day's Shame  
  
**************************  
  
Tatiana had disappeared to look for her mother some time ago, leaving the three teenagers to sit thee, immersed in their shock and horror.  
  
Harry could not believe that whole families dedicated themselves to such a horrific way of life. First the practice of sculpting psychotic models, then the practice of murdering werewolves.  
  
This was what Harry liked to call, 'A typical day in the life of famous Harry Potter'  
  
"Sooo..." said Ron, breaking the silence.  
  
"So..." Agreed Hermione  
  
"Yeah..." Said Harry  
  
And so they sat there, in silence.  
  
***************************  
  
Number 12 Grimmauld place, London.  
  
*******  
  
"Are you coming or what Remus?" Asked Sirius, highly annoyed at everything and everyone.  
  
"Yes Sirius..." Sighed Remus, running a hand through his hair. He was tired, and understandably so, as the full moon had been just two nights ago. But Sirius, in his maddened worry for Harry, seemed to have forgotten about that.  
  
Remus could hardly blame him, and it gave a nice release from all the mothering Sirius had been doing lately. Now, if they found Harry, Sirius could turn his overprotectivness to him.  
  
No... Wait... WHEN. When they found Harry. Because they would. Of course they would.  
  
They had to.  
  
Remus took one more look at poor Molly, weeping in a corner, and promised himself that he'd bring the children back to her. Then he made his way to depart.  
  
He was halfway through the door when Mad-eye came bounding down the stairs, yelling at the top of his voice.  
  
"HOLD UP LADDIE!!!" He roared. Sirius obtained a look of utter desperation and frustration, making him look slightly insane.  
  
"What NOW?" He moaned exasperatedly  
  
Mad-eye gave a little 'Hmph' and rolled his magical eye around his head, probably checking for enemies, possibly showing his disdain at Sirius' bad mood.  
  
"It's that Granger girl," He said gruffly "She's set up a fireplace connection from... wherever those silly children are-"  
  
Remus didn't hear the last part of the sentence as he had already joined Sirius and Molly in their mad dash up the stairs.  
  
********  
  
"Good luck Harry," Smiled Tatiana, and for the first time Harry noticed that she had an eerily familiar smile. Something about the shape of her face was also familiar. She turned round to walk through the door,  
  
"My father, grandfather, and uncles will be back soon, so, maybe we can sort something out then if this doesn't work..." She smiled and disappeared.  
  
Harry sighed. Tatiana's mother, Anastasia, had kindly allowed them to use their fireplace.  
  
What she didn't mention was that the fireplace had been built sometime around the fourteenth century, and had never been used since, so it... didn't really work.  
  
On the upside, they would be able to contact someone through the fireplace so they could come and get them. Unfortunately they couldn't pass through themselves. But Harry was sure that Sirius would come and get them if they asked, so they resolved to try it.  
  
Hermione was chosen to be the communicator unanimously, as she would probably tell them where they were instead of how disgustingly creepy the place was.  
  
It took a lot of weird spells and charms to stabilise the gateway so sound could pass through, and Harry and Ron took the opportunity to talk whilst Hermione did all the work ("Typical" Muttered Hermione)  
  
"I don't believe it..." Said Harry disbelievingly  
  
"I know," said Ron in the same tone "How on earth could people... their whole family?"  
  
"It's just plain cruelty, I bet none of them has ever met a werewolf, well, an alive one anyway..." Ron nodded in silent agreement  
  
"Are there werewolf exterminators in Britain?" Harry asked him  
  
Ron wracked his brains for a minute; trying to remember anything his dad had told him about the subject "I don't think so..." He said uncertainly "Not to this degree anyway, maybe one or two in charge of keeping werewolves under control, but nothing like this... the whole family..."He broke off  
  
"What's so different?" He asked Ron contemplacently  
  
"Well, from what dad says, Romania is like some sort of werewolf, vampire, monster land. There are non-humans and half breeds running around everywhere... especially in Transylvania..." He trailed off when he noticed Harry shaking his head vehemently.  
  
"No no no, you misunderstood..." He sighed, "I meant, what's so different about werewolves? All they do is turn in to a wolf once a month, I mean what's so bad about that anyway? Why can't all these stupid bastards like Malfoy and these people" He gestured towards the door Tatiana and her mother had disappeared through, meaning to chastise Tatiana's family "Just leave Remus and Will and Maddy and the rest alone. They're no harm to anyone, it's not their fault they're werewolves, not like they asked for it..."  
  
Ron nodded with an uncomfortable look in his eyes,  
  
"People fear what they don't understand!" Hermione called to them "They can never understand unless they become werewolves too..."  
  
Harry nodded, Hermione's words making perfect and bitter sense. Try as they might, they couldn't really understand. Probably not even Sirius knew what Remus had really dealt with during his life. And Harry also remembered their own reaction when they first found out, he was ashamed to think of it now, but he and Ron had completely lost it when Hermione revealed he was a werewolf. Then again, given the circumstances, Harry would've acted the same way even if he wasn't a werewolf. And he had learned his lesson by not giving a second thought to Hagrid being a half giant.  
  
"Anyway, I think I've got the connection up..." She grabbed a handful of ancient floo powder and chucked it into the fire. The flames swirled a little and went a strange pale green colour. Hermione looked suddenly down heartened, but nevertheless took a deep breath and yelled out "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, England!"  
  
"Europe, the world, the universe..." Muttered Ron. Harry gave a short laugh.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and put her head in the fireplace.  
  
At first, all she saw were the sickly green flames, but then suddenly the fireplace at Grimmauld Place came in to her line of vision, and by some divine stroke of luck, Mad-eye Moody was smoking his pipe right next to it.  
  
"MAD-EYE!" She shouted as loudly as she could, but still only coming through faint and crackly, like a bad radio connection.  
  
Perhaps it was not the smartest thing to do. After all, Mad-eye Moody had a little bit of a paranoia problem...  
  
"STUPEFY!" He yelled, jumping up and knocking one of the pictures off the wall, a mad glint in his eye. Hermione almost rolled her eyes.  
  
***  
  
"ARE... YOU... ALL... RIGHT?!" Thundered Sirius at the fireplace, as if talking to morons, "WHERE... IS... HARRY?!" Remus' ears rang as Sirius' yells attacked his sensitive hearing.  
  
"I'm not deaf Sirius, and Harry and Ron are just fine..."  
  
"WHERE... ARE... YOU?!" Demanded Sirius. Remus' hands flew up to his ears.  
  
"Please don't shout Sirius!" He yelped. Sirius, predictably, ignored him.  
  
"Stop shouting Sirius!" Ordered Hermione "We're in Romania, about fifty miles-"  
  
"ROMANIA!!!???" Sirius roared  
  
"- North-west of Alba Luila, you won't be able to miss us, it's the only house for miles..."  
  
"DO... YOU... WANT US... TO COME... AND... GET YOU...?" Sirius continued. Remus smacked himself in frustration. Sirius was really missing the point here.  
  
"Yes, that would be nice... can you come ASAP? Only, no offence to these people, but I think they're clinically insane..."  
  
/Well done Hermione/ Thought Remus /You've really gone and said it now.../  
  
"INSANE?" Screamed Sirius "WE..."  
  
"Sirius-"  
  
"WILL BE..."  
  
"No wait Sirius-"  
  
"RIGHT THERE!"  
  
"No... Sirius... Connection... Losing... Professor... Unconditionally..." Hermione seemed to want to get something through pretty urgently, but (Most annoyingly) the connection was breaking up.  
  
"What? What are you trying to say Hermione?" Remus asked her worriedly (And with good reason)  
  
"You don't understand," She tried again "On no account... Professor Lupin... These... Hunt-"  
  
"WE... CAN'T... HEAR YOU..." Sirius yelled, he seemed to want to say something else, but just then the fire went out completely, leaving them with nothing but the echoes of Hermione's 'Hmph' of indignation.  
  
"Right..." said Fred, glancing around "So what do we do?"  
  
Sirius looked at him as if he was a complete idiot, he raised his eyebrows and shook slightly "Well..." He said, almost insanely cheerfully "We..." he waved his arms and waggled his fingers "Rescue them!" This part was said as if it was a major breakthrough in world peace or something.  
  
Fred's ears turned slightly red and he exchanged glances with his twin. Then George said something that surprised them all.  
  
"Fred and I will go with you," Fred nodded.  
  
Molly let out a vehement exclamation, but Sirius silenced her with a look  
  
"This shouldn't be too dangerous, and they are members of the order,"  
  
"And it is their brother," Remarked Moody  
  
Sirius turned to his best friend, "What about you Remus? Are you coming?"  
  
Remus frowned, under any other circumstance he would come in an instant, but something Hermione had said, the tone of her voice...  
  
"Moony, you can't leave Harry-"  
  
"I have no intention of that Sirius, I'm just nervous about embarking on a mission with this much-"  
  
"Reeeeeeemy..." Sirius whined  
  
Remus rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the 'Remy' bit.  
  
"All right then" He smiled softly, despite his apprehension "I'm with you..."  
  
Another fatal mistake.  
  
******************************  
  
Romania...  
  
******************************  
  
It had been about half an hour since the botched communications attempt and Harry and Ron still couldn't believe that Hermione, supposedly the smart one, had failed to mention that the entire family they were staying with were murderous werewolf killers.  
  
And knowing 'Moony' and 'Padfoot', Lupin would definitely be here within the next few hours, and these people probably had some werewolf detection charm, and would have his head mounted on the wall before he even walked through the door.  
  
Then Sirius would have an uncontrollable emotional attack, sink into depression for the next twelve years, and refuse to be within an 'Avada Kedavra's length of Harry, for fear that he would use that very spell on him.  
  
This was why Hermione was sitting with her head in her hands, sobbing silently.  
  
"Is she all right?" Asked Anastasia worriedly, they had long since put some sort of translating spell on the house so they could understand Romanian, seeing as only Tatiana, Robert, and several cousins could speak a word of English.  
  
Tatiana's family rivalled Ron's in numbers, and that was /without/ all the men, who were still 'at work'. Harry tried not to dwell on what 'at work' meant.  
  
As well as Anastasia and the twins, the three students had met Tatiana's paternal step-grandmother, Paloma, who was where the werewolf hunter blood came from, although her husband and stepson were just as fierce and bloodthirsty on the job.  
  
Then Paloma's daughters Bernice and Victoria, her sister in law, Alexandria, her niece Ariadne, her niece in law Natalya, and her son in law's sister in law Anetka. There was also a maid, Vassilena and her son, Kirill.  
  
Only three of Tatiana's cousins (And a little brother) were there, the rest still being at Durmstrang, and said children were all infants.  
  
"Oh, she's just a little... stressed..." Said Harry.  
  
Anastasia nodded, and glanced up at the clock. As if on cue, the front door opened.  
  
Harry's thoughts immediately flew to Sirius, but he quickly reconsidered when he realised that Sirius wouldn't just walk in through someone else's door. Then again, knowing Sirius...  
  
If only it had been.  
  
If only they had managed to warn Remus.  
  
If only they had ended up somewhere else after Malfoy's spell.  
  
If only Malfoy had never been born.  
  
If only certain disagreements responsible for the schism in certain families had been avoided.  
  
If only certain people had never been bitten.  
  
If only a certain person had been an only child.  
  
Then it never would have happened. But as several men came prancing in to the room, and subsequently had the situation explained, Harry had little time to marvel over how familiar one of the older men seemed before somebody even more familiar came in to the room.  
  
If it had been a confusing day so far, Harry felt like this new development was enough to make him go insane.  
  
But it wasn't a death eater, or Voldemort, or anything like that...  
  
It was Remus Lupin.  
  
"Papa!" Cried Tatiana and Robert simultaneously on seeing him.  
  
"Oh shit..." Commented Ron.  
  
Harry couldn't have described the situation more admirably.  
  
*******************  
  
Ahh! My mum is yelling at me to go to bed, and I haven't spell checked yet!  
  
Hope everyone's o.k. And I'm devastatingly sorry for the long wait, please forgive me!  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: Thank you for your support, hope you enjoyed, and please don't give up on me, the next chapter will be here soon enough.  
  
Flying High: Ummm... Thank you for taking time to review me, but I'm not exactly sure if you were complementing, criticizing, or flaming me. Please explain to me if it was one of the first two, and I'm sorry to have offended you if it's the third.  
  
See you all next week! 


	5. That Croaks The Fatal Entrance

Hello everyone! Thank you for all support, Now on with the next chapter!  
  
Birdie: this AN was even shorter than the last one...  
  
***********************  
  
Chapter five: That Croaks The Fatal Entrance  
  
***********************  
  
Harry wanted to scream.  
  
He wanted to call out and demand answers.  
  
He wanted to throw his arms around Lupin and beg him to take them away from the mad house.  
  
He at least wanted to call out his name in blunt shock, and would've done if Hermione hadn't slapped a hand around both his and Ron's mouth.  
  
"Don't make a sound!" She hissed. Ron threw her a 'what the hell is going on /now/' look, but Harry by now knew that when Hermione used that tone of voice, it was time to shut up and do what she said.  
  
The Lupin look-a-like suddenly stopped his embrace of the twins. He seemed to have noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione. At first he adopted a look of confusion, but it quickly changed to disgust and utter loathing when he noticed the symbol on their robes.  
  
Hogwarts.  
  
The world of drunkard gangs who spent their time skipping their uneducated professors' classes and either having sex in the astronomy room, or mugging old women in Hogsmeade. The bane of his existance.  
  
And three of its students were standing in front of his face. In his house.  
  
This would have to be remedied.  
  
"What the hell? Who in the name of Fenris are they?" He yelled  
  
The older man narrowed his eyes "Hogwarts," He said shortly "Hmph! Another excuse to send people to Azkaban,"  
  
Harry stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed. In his time at Hogwarts he had heard all too many people insult and criticize Dumbledore, one of the other teachers, or how the school was run, but never the school itself. Even Lucius Malfoy and his cronies didn't want the school to stop. Kill Dumbledore and make Voldemort the new headmaster maybe, but not close the school.  
  
Tatiana rolled her eyes, Harry noticed that she did that a lot around her family.  
  
"They are from Hogwarts, Papa," She explained "They were accidently sent here by a spell gone wrong-"  
  
"Well get rid of them!" He ordered angrily. Harry frowned, just what exactly was this guys problem?  
  
"It's o.k. Papa," Soothed Tatiana, "There are going to be people coming to take them away within the hour,"  
  
"Can we put them in another room til then?" The man asked exasperatedly.  
  
Anastasia gave a small gasp "Romulus!" She chastised "What is wrong with you?"  
  
The old man answered for him "Those three delinquents are from Hogwarts: School of drugs, sex, and vandalism!"  
  
This time it was Paloma who tried to reason, "I thought you went to Hogwarts Jonathan," She said drily  
  
"And it was the worst seven years of my life!" Exclaimed the old geeser. Romulus nodded in agreement.  
  
Harry and Ron gave each other the all too well used 'what the hell goes on in these peoples' heads' look. Hermione luckily seemed to be keeping herself under control. Harry found it hard to comprehend that anyone could. These people were really strange, who could hate Hogwarts that much? Was it another family tradition? (He wouldn't have put it past them)  
  
The Lupin look-alike, Romulus (Here, Harry felt like he should have figured something out, something that Hermione had no doubt) leered at Harry with a look he thought was possible coming from Snape. Harry tried to avoid the mans gaze. It was then Harry noticed the most subtle difference between this guy, and professor Lupin. His hair wasn't at all grey, he had a darker complexion, and less lines on his face. He also had something of a heavier build, making him look a lot stronger. Harry imagined that this was what Lupin would have looked like if he hadn't been a werewolf.  
  
Romulus took a step closer to him, analysing every inch of Harry's being.  
  
"I don't like this one," He said at length "He seems... familiar... and not in a good way," His eyes, if possible, narrowed even further.  
  
Harry got a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He really didn't like this guy.  
  
"Yeeees..." Agreed the old man "He looks like that boy who..." He threw a look at Romulus, who shook his head.  
  
"No, it couldn't be, he would have to be about thirty-six years old by now,"  
  
Harry frowned, was it possible this lunatic had known his father?  
  
"Whatever," Said the old man, apparently dissmissing the situation "Take them somewhere else Tatiana, and then we need to have a talk about who you let into this house,"  
  
Tatiana closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, this obviously meant another lecture. She hated lectures. She would have to take them to the most remote part of the house she knew, in order to spare the lecture for as long as possible. She knew just where to go.  
  
Harry took one last look at Romulus before leaving, and noticed another subtle difference between him and Remus Lupin.  
  
Remus Lupin had warm amber eyes, slightly pale, but gentle.  
  
This man's eyes were brown, and cold.  
  
Like dried blood.  
  
********************  
  
"You can stay in here until your friends come, Harry," Tatiana said, pointing them in to a library-like room.  
  
"Thanks..." Said Harry uncertainly "Um.. Tatiana, about your father..."  
  
"Don't... ask," said Tatiana with a laugh "He's weird, and only he and grandfather know why!" She turned around and left to face her fate.  
  
Harry and Ron instantly turned to Hermione and unanimously asked:  
  
"What is it this time 'Mione"  
  
Hermione stared at them as if they had no brain whatsoever.  
  
"Who is that guy?" Asked Ron urgently "Is he using polyjuice potion? That's not really Lupin is it?"  
  
Hermione looked as if she was experiencing some sort of overload.  
  
"What was that guys issue? Do you think he knows Lupin? He seemed to recognise-"  
  
"You really are thick as bricks aren't you?" She snapped angrily, this had obviously been a trying time for her.  
  
"Well it's not every day-"  
  
"Twins!" She bellowed "They're twins you idiots, twins!"  
  
"Who are?"  
  
"Remus and whoever this guy is!"  
  
Harry gasped, why hadn't he thought of that before? It seemed so obvious now...  
  
"Don't you two know ANYTHING?" She screeched "I thought at least you might get it Harry, didn't you do the ancient Romans when you were in muggle primary school? And Ron, you live with twins-"  
  
Harry frowned "The Romans?"  
  
"Romulus and Remus, twin founders of Rome, grandsons of the god Mars and-"  
  
"O.k.!" yelled Ron "So Lupin has an evil twin who doesn't like werewolves too much, but...why? I mean, I think I could learn to deal with the whole werewolf thing if my own brother was one-"  
  
"Did it ever cross your mind that that's the reason he doesn't like werewolves?"  
  
"Oh. Oh yeah..."  
  
"Honestly..."  
  
Harry frowned, the old feelings of agonising confusion and curiosity eating away at him. What had happened between Lupin and his brother? He could feel that it was going to be another one of those days. Strange though, this didn't usually happen until the /end/ of the school year, they hadn't even had their first quidditch match yet!  
  
For a fleeting second, Harry wondered how the match had turned out. Had they cancelled?  
  
He turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. Soon he was going to learn some horrible truth about Lupin's past, and then he'd probably get nearly killed and wake up in hospital wing a week later with Lupin dead and Sirius as an emotional wreck.  
  
"Harry, is that a... /Pensieve/?" Asked Hermione tentively.  
  
Harry broke out of his thoughts and folloed Hermione's gaze to a ... wait.  
  
Was /that/ a pensieve?  
  
It looked like one...  
  
But Snape and Dumbledore's had surely not been so big! This one had to be able to fit four people's heads at a time!  
  
"Um... I think so... I don't know, it looks about four times as big as Snape and Dumbledore's-"  
  
"I know what that is!!!" Said Ron suddenly. Hermione looked pleased, but slightly put out that Ron knew something she didn't. "It's a 'Pensive ~deluxe~!"  
  
"A what?"  
  
"Of COURSE!" Said Hermione instantly "I can't /believe/ I didn't see that before, how could I be so stupid!"  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, Ron folded his arms and looked annnoyed that he wouldn't be explaining anything to Hermione.  
  
"O.k. Hermione," Breathed Harry exasperatedly "Pretend I have no idea what you're talking about, what is that thing?"  
  
"Well," Said Hermione (Harry could just tell she was about to launch into a huge lecture) "I was reading the updates in magic technology, and by combining the properties of a normal pensieve and a time turner, the mages have been-"  
  
"Mages?"  
  
"They make up spells. Anyway, they've been able to create a pensieve that allows more than one person at a time to view the owner's memories, very very very expensive, but it also creates a square mile bubble, in which the viewers can look around to their content,"  
  
"Bubble?"  
  
"It means that the viewers aren't restricted to following the owner around in their own memories. It means that if you got bored watching this guy, you could go follow someone else as long as they're within a square mile"  
  
Harry widened his eyes, and glanced at the silver basin.  
  
This was too perfect.  
  
So many questions, and the answer was right in front of them. He smirked,  
  
"What are we waiting for then?"  
  
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances and smiled mischeiviously. It was time for another trip in to the past.  
  
*************  
  
Yeah, when I said I'd update this week, I didn't say WHEN in this week. So sorry I'm two days late!  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: Yay! I love it when you review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, watch out for the next one! (Yeah, I know I'm awkward... But I like it!)  
  
TokyoTeen13: Woo Hoo! I was wondering what happened to you! Don't worry, there will be plenty more attempts on Lupin's life! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! (I'm not really that interesting... am I?)  
  
Nicole -Digedestined of Worth: Hello! Thank you for the review! Please enjoy!  
  
See you guys later! Oh, and in the next chapter, I will be using all those scenes that are used over and over again in MWPP fanfiction (The meeting, the sorting, the first class etc...) Please R+R!^_^ 


	6. If You Can Look Into The Seeds Of Time

Hi everyone! Ooh I'm so glad about all the reviews I got! You wonderful reviewers, I love you guys!  
  
Birdie: 0_o?  
  
Reaper: In a totally platonic way you stupid bird,  
  
Birdie: Oh... O.k... Are you sure there isn't going to be any slash in this fic?  
  
Reaper:*Exasperatedly* No Birdie, no slash...  
  
Birdie: Are you sure? No Remus/Sirius?  
  
Reaper: No...  
  
Birdie: Twincest?  
  
Reaper: No!  
  
Birdie: Remus/Severus?  
  
Reaper: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Quick! My loyal readers, read the chapter! It has the famous scene: the first meeting of MWPP!  
  
****************  
  
Chapter six: If you can look in to the seeds of time...  
  
****************  
  
It took a mere moment for Harry to figure out where he was. This was a place he would recognise anywhere, a place that held hope and anticipation for him, a place of fond memories.  
  
It was platform nine and three quarters.  
  
Ron and Hermione spun around wildly. Having never seen a pensieve before, they were astonished by the clarity of the vision.  
  
"Whoahhhh..." Remarked Ron, "So this is a pensieve..."  
  
"Yep!" Said Harry, gazing fondly about the familiar surroundings.  
  
"Amazing," Exclaimed Hermione, "Absolutely amazing! Look at the express Harry; it's exactly the same as it always is! Wait, is that a good thing? Maybe the magic is moulding the scenario out of our own memories, otherwise the train would surely look a little different-"  
  
"Hermione," Groaned Harry "Let's just see if we can find-"  
  
"Harry!" Interrupted Ron "It's Snape! I'd recognise the slimy git anywhere, Snape!"  
  
Harry turned around and followed Ron's direction of sight. Sure enough, standing there was a greasy-haired hooked-nose little kid with a glare. No doubt about it, it was Snape.  
  
But Harry wasn't really interested in Snape because he knew that if Snape was here, then Prongs would be there too, and he never missed a chance to see his father. He whirled around, scanning the surroundings for a sign of his look-alike, and gasped when he realised that one of the kids had a little gold halo above his head.  
  
"What the?" He asked confusedly,  
  
Hermione gained an excited glint in her eyes,  
  
"I know what that is Harry! It's a symbol so you don't lose track of the owner of the memories!"  
  
Harry nodded and continued looking for his father, not wanting to dwell on the eleven year old form of Lupin's evil twin. Suddenly, by some inexplicable stroke of luck, a severe looking woman wearing black and accompanied by four children (also wearing black) strode right through them. Harry reminded himself that they were just shadows of the past, and the woman couldn't have done that on purpose, but he had his doubts.  
  
Looking around he noticed that she and her family happened to be practically the only ones there wearing robes, and a lot of other witches and wizards were staring at the woman with something close to disdain. "Muggle clothes aren't good enough for her then?" One remarked to another.  
  
"What do you expect from a Black?" Shrugged the other, shaking her head.  
  
A Black?!  
  
"It's Sirius!" Exclaimed Ron.  
  
And indeed it was, Harry could see the resemblance easily enough, same hair, same eyes, same nose and ears. There was no doubt about it, definitely Sirius. He also recognised the woman as a younger version of 'the old hag' sometimes known as Agatha Black. She definitely wouldn't change much, Harry noticed. And there was Bellatrix Lestrange, and Narcissa Malfoy the stupid cows, and a bratty little kid who could only be Regulus Black.  
  
Sirius himself had been quite tall for his age, and looked like he'd rather be anywhere else then at the station with his mother, cousins, and younger brother. Looking at the nature of the kind and loving family, Harry could hardly blame him.  
  
The three wasted no time in racing over to follow Sirius. No offence to the lunatic Romulus Lupin, but Harry wasn't exactly interested in following someone who would be, and probably already was, a complete and utter arsehole.  
  
"Thank you aunt Agatha, for bringing us here," Chorused Bellatrix and Narcissa to their aunt.  
  
"You are very welcome girls, you do your ancestors proud," She lowered her voice slightly "Unlike a certain elder son of mine..."  
  
Mini-Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes. His mother seized up.  
  
"Don't you use that ungrateful expression around me you little worm! You're lucky I'm even letting you go to this school" She sneered "I wouldn't if it wasn't a Black family tradition-"  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah..." Moaned Sirius  
  
His mother leered at him and narrowed her eyes "You'd better behave Sirius..." She warned "You will face a severe punishment if you do anything to bring shame on the house of Black!"  
  
"Don't worry about Sirius, Mother" Cut in Regulus with a snooty expression "When I go to Hogwarts next year, you know I will bring honour to the family..."  
  
"Of that I have no doubt..." Said Agatha "But until then Sirius, YOU will be the only male representative of the ancient and most noble line of Black, so try not to bring our house to ruin for at least a year!"  
  
"Yes Mother..." Said Sirius drilly.  
  
Harry felt a wave of sympathy for poor Sirius, after the childhood he must of had. He was glad that Sirius had at least had his father, Lupin, and he supposed Peter would still have counted back then.  
  
"Well, get good marks, and don't make mischief!"  
  
"And by the way son, have a nice time!" Whispered Ron. Harry nodded sadly as Sirius shuffled away. Poor Sirius.  
  
/Stop that line of thought/ he told himself /pity is the last thing Sirius wants/ and it was true. Sirius couldn't stand pity of any sort. Remus on the other hand didn't mind pity that much, said it was better than bloodthirsty hate. It was really quite awful how people didn't understand those who were under unfortunate circumstances.  
  
Harry watched without speaking as Sirius moved towards the train. He watched while Sirius tried to heave his heavy trunk on to the express, and failed miserably.  
  
But he completely lost his voice when a dark-haired skinny boy asked if Sirius needed any help.  
  
A boy who looked almost exactly like he did.  
  
Harry smiled, he had found his father.  
  
He hoped that this was before he became such a prat.  
  
"Here, I'll give you a hand," Exclaimed the boy "I'm James, James Potter,"  
  
Sirius' eyes widened as the trunk was lifted on to the train and pushed in to a corner,  
  
"P- P- Potter?" He stammered  
  
"Yeah..." Said James with a nod  
  
Sirius smirked; Harry could just see that he was planning to disobey his mother.  
  
"Sirius," He smiled "Sirius Black..." He held his hand out, grinning.  
  
James' eyes also widened "Black?" He asked suspiciously,  
  
Sirius nodded "Black sheep, how 'bout you"  
  
James still looked a little suspicious "So far living up to my family name..." He contemplated a little. Harry smiled at the exchange  
  
"More then I can say for myself!" Grinned Sirius.  
  
James seemed to relent, casting aside all he had probably heard about the Black family, he grinned too.  
  
It was at that moment that a greasy haired git with a hooked nose shoved rudely past them yelling: "Out of my way, Mudbloods!" and stomped down the corridor. James stepped slowly on to the train, frowning heavily.  
  
And it was at that moment that they both said at the same time:  
  
"What I wouldn't give for some Filbuster fireworks!" They stared at each other and grinned, Sirius opened his mouth to speak:  
  
"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship Jimmy-boy" Grinned Sirius.  
  
Harry smiled at the exchange between a younger Sirius and a young James Potter. It made him think back to the first time he met Ron. He had never felt so nervous in his entire life, but meeting Ron had been a turning point in his life. After Ron, he didn't even think of turning back, although he had been worried that he'd be sent back anyway. Ron, and Hermione, had really made a difference in his hectic life... he wouldn't be where he was today if it wasn't for them. It must have been the way the marauders felt about each other.  
  
Mean while, in Romulus' memory scape, James and Sirius were getting to know each other better as they moved down from compartment to compartment, looking for an empty one so that they could plan their first ever assault on Snape.  
  
Sometimes, Harry felt sorry for Snape, but not at that moment. Right then he was too busy enjoying the show.  
  
That was when a small, slightly chubby, blonde boy climbed on to the train at the exact moment James and Sirius were passing by. So naturally, he crashed into them.  
  
Sirius stumbled and reached on to one of the compartment dividers for stability. James fared little better, "Watch where you're going, you tosser!" Snapped Sirius angrily, another testament to his short temper.  
  
"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sorry!" Squeaked the boy.  
  
At that moment, Harry guessed who it was. The infamous Peter Pettigrew.  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah, don't pass out or anything," Said James with a laugh, he paused for a minute, seeming to be considering something... "Say Sirius,"  
  
"Mmm,"  
  
"If we're going to have a gang of mischief makers, we'll need more than two people..."  
  
Sirius glanced at him suspiciously, "And you have... this guy in mind?" He asked with disbelief,  
  
"Sure, yeah..." He smiled "Hey, You can be the leader, I'll be the funny guy, and he can be that guy that doesn't really seem to be good at anything, and then we find that he actually has a hidden talent and we can't save the world without him!"  
  
"Are you slightly demented?"  
  
"It has been disputed at times," Nodded James.  
  
Sirius nodded back and turned to mini Peter,  
  
"I'm Sirius Black, who are you?"  
  
"S-s-s-s-s-s-Sirius B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-lack!?" He cried,  
  
"No, that's my name, what's yours?" The three grinned  
  
"P-Peter Pettigrew..." Said Peter nervously  
  
"James Potter," Said James with smile. The three then experienced a natural occurrence known as 'an awkward silence', and fell about laughing again.  
  
"Cool," Said Sirius "It's only been about five minutes, and already I've made friends with two blood traitors and shamed the family name! I'm having an inexplicable sense of accomplishment..." He smiled sentimentally, the other two chuckled  
  
"Oy, Sirius!" Said James,  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
"If we're going to have the most stereo-typical gang possible then we're going to need a guy who's really mysterious and quiet and keeps horrible secrets,"  
  
Sirius smiled "Ahh, a quest," He mused "We must continue our noble search then..."  
  
They laughed and carried on down the train, now three. During that time, Harry learned that James came from another branch of an entirely pureblood family, known for being as 'Gryffindor' as Sirius' family were 'Slytherin'. Peter Pettigrew was actually related, though incredibly distantly, to both James and Sirius, making those two so incredibly distantly related to each other, that it was hardly worth mentioning. And yet it made Harry feel even closer to Sirius, and slightly disturbed that he was related to Wormtail. He voiced his concerns to Hermione.  
  
"I'm related to /Wormtail/?" He said with disgust,  
  
"Harry, you should know by now that all pureblood families are inter- related, your probably related to Ron somehow or other-"  
  
"More than I needed to know Hermione..." Said Harry with a grimace, Ron mirrored the expression.  
  
Meanwhile, the three marauders had finally found an empty compartment and sat down to plan their first ever mischief and mayhem. Or so they thought.  
  
"Is that a book?" Asked Sirius.  
  
Indeed, in front of them was a book. An enormous book that appeared to be standing up on one of the seats. Looking closer, they were able to see to tiny hands grasping either side of the huge volume.  
  
"Umm, Hello?" Said Sirius, voicing it almost as a question, as if hesitant to accept that there could be someone behind the big book.  
  
The book fell back across the opposite seat, and lo and behold, there /was/ a person behind the book. Now, if Pettigrew had been short, this kid was /tiny/. He looked drastically malnourished and had several grey hairs already. But the warm amber eyes were the same. Harry smiled.  
  
"Lupin," He stated  
  
Hermione suddenly let out a rather undignified shriek:  
  
"Oooooooooooohhhhhh!!!" She squealed "Is that /Remus/?" She began dancing on her tiptoes; Harry and Ron exchanged disturbed glances.  
  
"Ooh! He's sooooo /CUTE/! Oh, you just want to take him home and feed him up and cuddle him and look after him! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"  
  
"Hermione..." Said Ron with an air of revulsion "That is /Lupin/ you know..."  
  
"Shhhh!" Hissed Harry.  
  
Mini Lupin glanced up nervously from his reading,  
  
"Hello," He said in a half whisper  
  
"Hey, can we sit here?" asked James  
  
Lupin nodded vigorously "Yeah, sure... go ahead..." He attempted to pick up his book again, then realising it would be impossible, put it back in his trunk. Or tried to. Harry marvelled at how the tiny person had picked it up in the first place.  
  
Another awkward silence followed.  
  
"So... umm... who are you?" Asked Sirius,  
  
"Remus Lupin," Said Remus.  
  
"... Are you terminally ill?" Inquired Sirius. James gave him a playful slap,  
  
"Sirius!" He groaned.  
  
Remus' eyes had flown open with something akin to fear. Probably fear of discovery.  
  
"Not that I'm aware of..." He answered nervously "I've been sick lately, I'm afraid I get sick a lot..." He said, grimacing.  
  
"Come over here and sit with us," Said James,  
  
"Yeah, you can be the fourth member of our illustrious and chaotic band of demented lunatics!" Laughed Sirius  
  
Remus looked as if that was the last thing he ever wanted to do, so he sat there awhile.  
  
"Not sure if I'm demented enough for that," He said with a nod,  
  
"Sure you are!" Said Sirius.  
  
"And even if you aren't, you will be once you spend enough time with us!" Laughed James!  
  
Remus glanced towards the compartment door, possibly contemplating on moving to another compartment, possibly contemplating on running as far away as he could.  
  
The whistle went and the train began to move.  
  
James and Sirius looked on expectantly.  
  
Remus sighed and stood up.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled,  
  
He had gone and sat down with the other three.  
  
**************************  
  
O.k., this is getting ridiculous. I can't believe it, but once again it's a late update, sorry guys I don't know what's going on, I use to update so faithfully... (When I had access to a computer that is!) Every Sunday, another update. And now, it's Wednesday!  
  
O.k., so it will probably be Thursday when you all read this, or Friday or whatever. Well actually, seeing as I live in jolly old England, That makes me somewhere between five and eight hours ahead of most of my viewers (Apart from my fellow Brits) they may actually be able to read it today. Lets see, if it's 9:50 where I am now, and the majority of people here seem to be Boston-  
  
Birdie: Oh would you just SHUT UP! Honestly, you're supposed to be doing your homework, if you don't, you and five other students (Three of which are close personal friends) will get an hour long senior management detention on Friday afternoon!  
  
Reaper: Homework?  
  
Birdie: Yeah you know, your physical social education homework about contra-  
  
Reaper: Okaaaay! Time for reviews!  
  
Birdie: -ception  
  
Reaper: *Goes red* Umm... thanx to reviewers!  
  
***  
  
Piper of Locksley: Interesting name, updated as soon as I could, but I don't think it's really good enough...*Sighs* Thanx for the support anyway.  
  
blank: Yay! An old friend is back! Hope you enjoyed this chappie, I meant to do more but then the cursor to the right of this page would be really really tiny. (As tiny as Lupin when he was eleven! Ha ha ha ha^_^)  
  
TokyoTeen13: Ahh, the Romans... no, I don't like how much they do on the Romans either, the legions and centurions get tiring after a while. But they did invent sewer systems... imagine what the world would be like without them... *Imagines, and shudders* (Random guy: What 'ave the Romans done for us?)  
  
Mrs. Radcliffe 2 B: I've been known to be cruel at times (Birdie: all the time...) but hey, here's the update, hope you enjoyed!  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: Glad you like my ideas, I was going to add in the sorting and the first class, but I got so carried away... I think I'm going to have to split the pensieve up in to about three parts... (Ugh, I hope this isn't going to be as long as 'Fate Allowed', or longer... but you wouldn't mind...would you?) Ooh, I have special plans for when Remus shows up... Hee hee hee ^_^  
  
Neoma: I updated !!! ^_^ (Please continue to read!)  
  
Howling Wolf 22: Updated as soon as I could! Yes, Romulus is a jerk... did they ever tell you /why/ Romulus killed Remus in Roman mythology? The way I see it, he just didn't want competition for power... Arsehole isn't he? Thanx for the review!  
  
See you all SOME TIME next week! 


	7. Ere The Set Of Sun

Yay! Chapter 7!  
  
Hope that everyone is o.k. and no one died over the weekend. I've been thinking of starting a LotR fanfic too, problem is, I have absolutely no clue what to do. And I'd have to finish this one first of course!  
  
Today we will be revisiting the pensieve deluxe, and this time, present-day Remus and Sirius will also come in to the story!  
  
Biride: Will we be seeing-  
  
Reaper: No. What ever it is, no...  
  


* * *

  
Chapter Seven: Ere The Set Of Sun  
  


* * *

  
The rest of the journey passed exactly as anyone who knew Sirius and Remus (And Peter) would expect it to.  
  
Sirius and James were rather enthusiastic, they were the centre of the conversation (Whitch was mostly about quidditch, of course) Peter was trying to prove that he was cool too, and often began a sentance, only to be interrupted by James or Sirius who had something better to say.  
  
It was obvious that Remus wasn't interested in the conversation, but he was listening intently, and occasionally made quiet, yet incredibly humerous remarks in response to some of the conversation topics, at which Sirius and James would burst out laughing. However, it was quite noticeable that Remus himself, never smiled. He seemed far too nervous.  
  
As usual, the woman pushing the trolley of snacks came by around lunch time. The three observers were mildly disturbed to see that it was exactly the same woman who served them. Exactly the same. She hadn't changed a bit in twenty-whatever years. Harry wondered what she did all year, when she wasn't on the train, maybe she was some sort of magic illusion thingy...  
  
Moving back to the story, James immediately stood up with a fistful of galleons, shouting: "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans!"  
  
The woman smiled and handed him about five packets of the brightly coloured beans and a few silver sickles in change. Sirius raised an eyebrow,  
  
"You like those things?" He asked incredulously. James gave a manic grin and nodded. Sirius smiled evilly,  
  
"Seven pumpkin pasties please!" He exclaimed.  
  
"Seven?" Gasped James, mouth hanging open, Sirius grinned in response and nodded like a lunatic. Peter's narrow watery eyes darted around a bit,  
  
"I'll take two pasties and two bags of Bertie Bott's" He said nervously, and a little too fast.  
  
The woman smiled again and handed him his purchase, then Sirius, James and Peter looked to Remus. Remus went a little red and ran a hand through his hair nervously, he seemed to be ashamed of something.  
  
"What're you getting Remy?" Inquired Sirius  
  
"Ohh, n-nothing" He stuttered, "I mean... I'm not hungry..."  
  
"No..." Agreed James "Just horribly malnourished..."  
  
Peter frowned "What does the word mean?"  
  
"Well, Peter," Said Sirius "Horribly is the word we use to describe the acute unpleasentness of certain situations..."  
  
Peter blushed furiously "No! I meant..." James interrupted him,  
  
"Hey, don't worry, we'll buy you something... how do you like chocolate frogs?"  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"Brilliant! Four chocolate frogs please!" He said smiling.  
  
Remus smiled back.  
  


* * *

  
The train arrived at the usual time, it had been pleasant watching the maurauders' first ride on the express, though Harry couldn't help but wonder where his mother was. He caught a glimpse of red hair as they got off the train, but it was at that moment that Romulus Lupin decided to make an entrance.  
  
It happened very fast. Lupin suddenly caught sight of someone and called out: "Ophelia!" and went off in to the crowd.  
  
"Oy, Remus!" Yelled Sirius "Where'd he go?" He turned to James  
  
James shrugged, "Saw someone he knew?" he suggested. Sirius rolled his eyes, then suddenly gave a double take and gaped  
  
"Remus?" He said incredulously, Staring at a boy who had just walked in to his line of vision. Who, by the way was not Remus. For one thing he looked well fed, had disgusting brown eyes, not a single grey hair, and a little dramatically ironic halo above his head signifying that he was the owner of the vision they were seeing. Meaning that he was Romulus, the jerk.  
  
And on top of that he was standing right next to a carbon-copy of Draco Malfoy, and you didn't have to have thirteen owls (Which, by the way, Hermione did have) to see that it was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
The three viewers surged with hatred. This was the father of the guy that had gotten them in to the whole mess, one of Voldemort's right hand men, not to mention the bastard who was responsible for most of poor Remus' injuries back in February. Harry had half a mind to go over and kick his head in, but the other half reminded him that this was just a memory, and terminating Malfoy was impossible at that moment.  
  
Romulus seemed to have been mortally offended at the suggestion that he was actually his brother. His eyes widened, his mouth opened and his nose wrinkled in disgust.  
  
"What... did you call me?" He said in a tone to make even Snape cower and quake, whilst narrowing his eyes back to the usual slits.  
  
James and Sirius exchanged confused glances "What?"  
  
Things may have turned nasty, if Remus hadn't reappeared,  
  
"Sorry guys, I just saw my..." He drew in a quick breath upon seeing his twin, but quickly masked his emotion, becoming unreadable again "Romulus..." He acknowledged  
  
Sirius, James and Peter turned their heads from one twin to the other with expressions of extreme confusion. Dealing with twins was often confusing. Just look at 'Twelvth Night' and 'The Comedy Of Errors'...*  
  
"Oh it's you is it?" Said Romulus with an air of contempt and utter loathing. He seemed to be embarrassed by Remus. It should have been the other way round.  
  
Remus seemed to be fighting within himself. Finally he took hold of James' sleeve and motioned for the other marauders to follow him  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" Came a familiar voice. Hagrid of course. Harry would have liked to follow Hagrid too, but he saw Hagrid all the time anyway and how many times would he get to see his dead father, and his friends before Sirius went bitter, Peter turned in to a back-stabbing rat, and Remus became even more depressing than he was as a kid. The poor marauders.  
  
In the background he was aware of Romulus' sneering voice,  
  
"Oh, that was just my EVIL twin... Hee hee... He has no brain, and not a lot of brawn either..."  
  
Malfoy's laughter rang in Harry's ears, serving to make Harry hate him oh, so much more. Remus appeared to have ignored him, but with the way Remus was known for disguising his emotions, it was impossible to say how hurt he really was. Remus turned around to see Sirius, James and Peter giving him strange looks.  
  
He took a deep breath and nodded at them, he opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find any words. James and Peter gave him a 'who the hell was that bastard' look, but Sirius just nodded. Harry imagined that he'd had similar problems.  
  
"That..." Remus forced out "Was Romulus..."  
  
"And Romulus is..."  
  
"My brother... "  
  
"Your-"  
  
"Don't ask..." He said in a tone that gave you the impression that the conversation was over. It was a surprisingly bold request for Remus.  
  
The others nodded and they all got in to a boat.  
  
Hermione frowned and turned to Harry...  
  
"Harry..." She said in the 'I've got something you probably don't want to hear' voice "You know, we can't stay here for seven years, and I was thinking... well this whole thing is... well think about it Harry"  
  
Harry was worried that this was coming. Truthfully, he didn't want to leave, but they had been there for who knows how long... wait a minute, how long did it take to get to Hogwarts anyway? Six, Seven hours? There definately hadn't been any time gaps so...  
  
"Hermione, why have we been here so long without interruption?" He asked with a hint of fear. They couldn't have spent over six hours in that room, could they? Unless...  
  
Hermione frowned again with a frantic look in her eyes and Ron looked around at them, as if beginning to contemplate the situation. Harry motioned for her to answer, but inside he was terrified because he had already begun to guess the answer.  
  
"I-I think that Romulus has t-trapped us in his memories..." She stuttered nervously,  
  
Now THAT was exactly what Harry and Ron did /not/ need to hear.  
  


* * *

  
Meanwhile, five hours earlier... back at the mad house  
  


* * *

  
Remus sighed and lumbered ungracefully up to the others, this place gave him the creeps, no doubt about that.  
  
It had taken them more than twice as long as they had hoped to find the place, but now that they had, Remus definately wished that they hadn't. The estate had dark magic up to the tallest tower, and anyone who had silver vine patterns on their front door had to have something wrong with them. Remus reminded himself that as a werewolf, he was prone to harsh judgement regarding silver, but that didn't excuse it... did it?  
  
"Silver... Why Silver?"  
  
Sirius shrugged "I don't think gold goes with the structure..." he mused.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes with annoyance and slapped Sirius' shoulder playfully. Sirius grinned and carried on towards the house.  
  
Fred and George were beginning to wonder whether coming to rescue Ron was such a good idea. They still had three other brothers didn't they? And Ginny was alright sometimes... Sure, losing Harry would be a bit of a downside but they could definately live without Hermione... the snob.  
  
"Hey, Sirius!" Exclaimed Fred  
  
"Yeah what?" Asked Sirius, grinning. The twins marvelled at how he could possibly have grimaced, let alone grinned. George still had his mouth wide open, staring like an idiot at the... house.  
  
"Are you sure that that prophecy... thingy said that /only/ Harry could defeat Voldemort?"  
  
Sirius just gave him a look.  
  
"Right, just wondering" Said Fred, nodding his head like an idiot.  
  
The four mismatched members of the rescue team made their way slowly up the path. they walked in silence for at least thirty seconds before George suddenly made choking gasping noises, and pointed wildly like a madman.  
  
Remus gagged and turned away.  
  
Anger flashed across Sirius' eyes.  
  
They had found 'the secret garden'.  
  
Remus swallowed. "Let's move on, shall we?" He said thickly, trying his hardest not to vomit.  
  
Sirius looked at Remus worriedly. His eyes flicked from his best friend to the graphic sculptures in the garden and back again to Remus. At that moment, he wasn't too sure if it was really safe for Remus to be meeting these wierdos. He didn't know that reuniting would've been a more appropriate word.  
  
"Umm, Moony... I don't think..."  
  
"It's o.k. Sirius," said Remus with a deep breath "Come on, remember why we're here..."  
  
Of course. Harry. Somehow he always got himself in to trouble. Sirius sighed, he loved that kid.  
  
Suddenly a thought so dark and terrible entered his mind that he gasped and had to look away as he tried to force it from his mind. He wished he could've but now it was stuck, and it would be one of those things that juststayed with him, probably for the rest of his life.  
  
What if one day, for whatever demented reason...  
  
What if he was forced to choose between Remus' life, and Harry's?  
  
What would he do?  
  
"You o.k. Sirius?" Inquired George, who seemed to have finally found his voice.  
  
"Fine" He lied, trying to think of something else. He realised that Remus was a few metres ahead of him and jogged to catch up.  
  
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Finally the door loomed ominously about a foot in front of them. They stood there, practically shaking.  
  
"Nice knowing you all," Stated Fred  
  
George widened his eyes "Don't even joke..." He said solemnly.  
  
Time passed some more...  
  
"Sooo..." Started Sirius, but he never got any further.  
  
And still the four of them just stood there like lemons. If lemons had legs and stuff. Another minute passed.  
  
"Someone should really knock or something..."  
  
And another...  
  
"Oh for the love of-" Remus exclaimed as he took a step forward, hesitated a moment, then finally pulled on the cord-doorbell thingy.  
  
GONG!  
  
The four of them flinched back, as the doorbell (Which sounded like the 'gong' at a sacrificial altar) rand throughout the stillness of the night.  
  
An owl shrieked and flew away.  
  
The door opened.  
  
But there was no one standing on the other side.  
  
The twins stood shamelessly behind the marauders, and one of them whimpered. Remus closed his eyes as if pained, but Sirius just stomped around to face them, half angry, half scared out of his wits, and snapped out:  
  
"Right, who didn't see that coming?"  
  
Remus shook his head sadly  
  
"Bugger this," Sirius Exclaimed "I've had enough of these vampire people- oh shit,"  
  
He had just noticed the werewolf head on the wall, and suddenly remembered that Hermione had been frantically trying to get something across when she contacted them.  
  
Werewolf killers  
  
Remus was in the midst of a panic attack, he had also noticed the mount.  
  
Sirius whipped round and gave him a desperate look,  
  
"Remus..." He said shakily "RUN!"  
  
Remus turned around quickly, but unfortunately not quickly enough.  
  
SLAM!  
  
The door slammed shut.  
  
"And who didn't see that coming?" Asked Sirius weakly.  
  


* * *

  
Tatiana had never been so confused in her entire life. Her father and grandfather looked half angry, half pleased. They had vaguely mentioned something about 'wanting to do this for a long time'. It made no sense.  
  
And the three students that had appeared earlier in the day, who really didn't seem to have anything wrong with them, had been trapped within her father's memories from when he was at 'that school'. The poor things.  
  
Robert was sulking in the same corner she was spying on the adults, technically they were supposed to be in bed, especially since they were in disgrace for letting three delinquents into the house. But Tatiana had convinced her bratty brother to come and watch what was going on.  
  
Now Father had just announced that there was a werewolf in the house. He hadn't let them answer the door when the gong went, and he just said perhaps the strangest thing she ever heard:  
  
"Alexi, can you, Vlad, Andre, Josef, Konstantinos, and Lev go down to the main entrance?" He asked with a glint of something sinister in hie eyes, the uncles who had been adressed stood up, looking either confused or excited "There are some guests up there that need to be... umm... /shown/ the way up here,"  
  
The six of them nodded and stood up  
  
"Oh, and brothers..."  
  
The men turned around, hoping for a little more explanation. What they got was an order.  
  
"Don't act shocked by /who/ you meet there... Even if it's me..."  
  


* * *

  
* I've been reading Shakespeare! ^_^ (Don't you just love 'Titus Andronicus')  
  
Birdie: Reading Shakespeare instead of writing fanfiction? I think you need some time to figure out where your loyalties lie...  
  
Reaper: ... Riiiiiigggghhhhhtttt... Okaaaaay...  
  


* * *

  
Hello people *Ducks as people throw large heavey objects at her* Yes... I know I'm TERRIBLE at updating... Tell you guys what, since it's the holidays (Half term) I'll try and have another one up by THIS Sunday!  
  
Everyone else: Yeah Right!  
  
Reaper: I said I'd TRY!...  
  
So has anyone else noticed that lines of ******'s have been turned in to just long straight lines instead when you post them up? Weird...  
  
It also seems to be cancelling out smiley faces (^_^) What would we do without smiley faces?! I think some of us should band together to save the smiley faces!  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Howling Wolf 22: Thanks for reviewing, I hope you'll be a regular customer now! And don't worry... I found that when I wrote my last story I didn't have the heart to kill Remus... He's sooooooo cool! (But torture and maiming is not below me! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!)  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: You don't mind? *Sighs with relief* I was just wondering what the audience wanted...Yay! here's an update! I'm thinking of drawing the pensieve out even more, and cutting down on what I was going to put later... Anyway, ALL my favorite authors either live in Boston, or I have no idea where they live (Or they just /pretend/ to live in Boston... I'm becoming paranoid)  
  
So I assume that most people are at least east coast. I think the guys that run the website are from Boston, but I don't know and it gets confusing when Ffn.net is down for repairs or upgrades, and you're looking at what time it says it will be down and you say 'Hey, shouldn't the site be down? Oh, wait, they're five hours behind... or is it eight? where do these people live anyway?  
  
P.S. We might get superbowl, I don't know 'cos I don't really watch sport... (Possibly just to spite my sport crazed father, Wow... this was a long reply, I'd better stop before-)  
  
TokyoTeen13: Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I was really pining for ideas for about pranks, for later chapters you know, but your review really helped! ^_^ Please continue to read and review!  
  
Mrs. Radcliffe 2 B: You're sick? I wish I had updated sooner, since you're probably better now (And if you're not then I hope the new chappie helps) I'm so sorry... I was sick this time last year, I remember that the teachers made us do a fire drill in the cold and rain, and they made us spend ages out there because we couldn't get in to alphabetical order... BUT THE JOKE WAS ON THEM! I was so sick, I couldn't do exams! I had to do them later without all the supervision with several others who had been sick and we just talked all the time! Thanx for Reviewing, see you next time!  
  


* * *

  
Bye People! C ya L8tr!  
  
Birdie: Or not... 


	8. And You All Know Security

Yay! I'm updating!  
  
Woo hoo!  
  
Time for the sorting!  
  
******************************  
  
Chapter eight: And You All Know Security...  
  
******************************  
  
Sometimes, Harry wondered if the fates conspired to fill his life with grief and misery.  
  
And then he instantly knew it was not true. Because that would prove Professor Trelawney right, and there was no way in hell that was going to happen.  
  
But still, the uncanny amount of despair that followed Harry around wherever he went threatened to drive him insane most of the time. Whether it was trapped behind a sink in a haunted toilet with a giant bloodthirsty snake monster and an evil diary, tied to a tombstone to watch the resurrection of the most evil wizard that ever lived, or stuck in a psycho- murderer lunatic's memories while his godfather and former professor were probably being tortured to death.  
  
One more day, in the life of 'Famous Harry Potter'  
  
Marvellous.  
  
"When I call your name, You will step up to the stool and try on the hat, it will then sort you in to your house" A twenty-five year younger McGonagall said loudly to the first years watching the hat with awe, indifference, or anticipation.  
  
Harry moved in closer to the marauders.  
  
"All we have to do is try on a hat?" Peter whispered furiously, going slightly red at the same time.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes "Didn't you know that Peter? Honestly, call yourself a pureblood..."  
  
Harry frowned, since when did Sirius care what blood you had?  
  
Remus seemed to want to say something, but kept quiet anyway. James shook his head as if ashamed and began to giggle. The conversation was cut short when the first victim was chosen for the sorting.  
  
"Adele Cliffe!"  
  
A girl with dark eyes and hair that came down to her hips stepped up to the hat and hesitantly placed it on her head.  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Of course," Hermione whispered to them "They sorted by age order up until nineteen-eighty"  
  
"You know Hermione..." Said Ron with a measure of annoyance "McGonagall can't hear us so you really don't have to whisper..."  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes nastily at him.  
  
"Georgina Davies!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
McGonagall moved through what Harry supposed were the Septembers, Sirius would be appearing soon as his birthday was the eighth of October. And sure enough...  
  
"Sirius Black!"  
  
Sirius adopted a confident smile and half marched half swaggered his way up to the stool. He placed the hat on his head almost elegantly.  
  
Harry saw his father smiling and crossing his fingers, Wormtail danced on his tiptoes, trying to see better from his place further back the line, while Remus glanced over trying not to seem interested. They were soon rewarded with a...  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Sirius and the marauders smiled. And believe it or not, they were the only ones. Except Dumbledore.  
  
The hat's little decision caused a slight uproar in the great hall.  
  
Well, more of a raging chaotic furious riot than a slight uproar...  
  
A girl with heavy eye shadow and black hair (Bellatrix Lestrange) jumped up from the Slytherin table and screeched indignantly.  
  
"WHAT!?" She shrieked like a banshee "THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"  
  
Several other Slytherins all jumped up too and began arguing. Students from the other houses took the opportunity to lean over at each other and gossip wildly. Sirius looked positively overjoyed at the outrage he had just caused. James also grinned while Peter giggled nervously and even Remus managed a small smile.  
  
The disturbance was silenced by McGonagall, after she cast a momentary silencing charm on them of course.  
  
Sirius sat down at the Gryffindor table like he owned it, rewarded with a few admiring stares from the other students at the table. Harry had always wondered if Sirius had had to strive for acceptance when he was sorted in to an unusual house for his lineage, but it seemed that it was not the case.  
  
Eventually the outrage stilled and the great hall once again watched the houses being sorted.  
  
They passed November, December January (In which Severus Snape was sent to Slytherin) February, and they had just come to mid-March when McGonagall called out-  
  
"James Potter!"  
  
His heart raced with excitement. He vaguely recalled that he hadn't known when his father's birthday was.  
  
The young James Potter walked almost as confidently as Sirius had. Almost, that is.  
  
Harry was slightly put out that the hat had barely touched his father's head when it yelled out: "GRYFFINDOR" At the top of its lungs. Or whatever it had instead of lungs.  
  
He thought back to his own sorting /It's all in your head, and Slytherin would help you on your way to greatness.../ His father hadn't been told that had he? He had always hoped that his father's arrogance had something to do with the fact that the hat told him that he would have done well in Slytherin. But now it seemed that it was just Voldemort's essence after all.  
  
Ah well, no use crying over spilt milk.  
  
Quite a few people were sorted before Lupin was called, idly Harry wondered how many of them were now dead or in Azkaban. Harry remembered Lupin told him once that he was born on the thirteenth of April. Friday, the thirteenth of April that is (He had given a bitter laugh at that point, and Harry hadn't been sure if he believed him or not) and since it was being done by age, Romulus was called first.  
  
Romulus was trying (and failing) to disguise his apprehension. He walked slowly to the stool and placed the hat arrogantly on his head. Harry suddenly wondered how you could put a hat on your head arrogantly. He decided only Romulus could manage it, and maybe the Malfoys, and everyone else in Slytherin.  
  
Harry watched as Romulus was sorted in to Slytherin, it didn't take the hat long to decide. Romulus sat down next to Lucius Malfoy, and seemed mildly interested in where his twin was going to be sorted.  
  
Remus Lupin had by far the strangest reaction to the call of his name. He gave a small nervous smile as if he couldn't believe that he had been called, but walked as if he hadn't a care in the world. It wasn't a cocky walk like the previous marauders, more nonchalant than anything. It all stemmed from being a werewolf Harry supposed.  
  
If Romulus had managed to put a hat on arrogantly then Remus had managed to do it humbly. Harry waited for the house to be called out. He couldn't help seeing that the teachers all seemed especially interested at the house Remus was going to be placed in, Harry wasn't too surprised, first werewolf to come to the school, got to be some intrigue. Although some were looking quite interested in a different way, as though trying to decide the most efficient way they were going to kill him. More prejudice bastards.  
  
And so he waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
"Sure is taking its time isn't it" Ron remarked with a bit of impatience "What do you think is wrong?"  
  
Hermione frowned and got her thoughtful look "First werewolf ever, I don't suppose that the hat's ever seen anything like it before..."  
  
"A little spark of excitement in the tediousness that comes from being a hat..." Mused Ron,  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
A few students leaned over the tables, probably wondering why a set of twins had been placed in the two houses most antagonistic to each other out of the four. Remus gave another one of his small smiles and placed the hat down carefully, then he walked up to Gryffindor table. He passed a girl with chestnut brown hair sitting at the Ravenclaw table who turned around and smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up. He responded with an embarrassed shrug and sat with the other marauders.  
  
"Lily Evans!"  
  
Harry jerked his attention from the marauders over to the redhead moving up to the hat.  
  
"Isn't that your mother Harry?" Asked Ron  
  
Harry smiled and Hermione raised her eyebrows.  
  
Harry noticed that Lily seemed a little snobbish. Sort of like Hermione when he first met her. He wondered if the marauders had ever knocked out a fully-grown mountain troll... but a few minutes later...  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
He looked back at the marauders, "So what took you so long Remy?" Asked James.  
  
Remus shrugged, "I was talking to the hat..."  
  
James nodded like he was talking to a madman "Of course..." He frowned slightly and put his hand on Remus' shoulder "You know... in the /real/ world... Hats don't actually talk..."  
  
Sirius guffawed, "Yeah what would you know, you didn't even had the hat on for a second before it put you here. For your information, the hat actually does talk!"  
  
James gaped "The hat talks?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"Hey look, Peter's being sorted..."  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" Yelled the hat,  
  
Remus frowned, "Strange..." he stated "I would've thought he'd do better in Hufflepuff..."  
  
Sirius and James shrugged and welcomed Peter back to the little group.  
  
When the feast begun, Harry tore his eyes away from the scene to converse with Ron and Hermione. There were some things he needed to ask...  
  
"Hermione..." He began "What do we do now?" He and Ron looked at her deploringly.  
  
She grimaced slightly and looked away "I've been /trying/ to come up with an answer to that for the passed hour... but I've been distracted..."  
  
Harry frowned and tried to think up of something... nothing came to mind. His head was as empty as ever.  
  
A silence passed between the three, each awkwardly waiting for another to answer.  
  
"I know!" Said Ron suddenly,  
  
Hermione glared at him "Not funny!" She snapped, "This is serious Ron, not just another silly game..."  
  
Ron looked highly offended... Very highly. He adopted a furious glare at Hermione and gritted his teeth "Actually," He said coldly "I actually did think of something..."  
  
Hermione went red and mumbled an apology.  
  
Ron remained stroppy and narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Don't do that..." Harry pleaded  
  
"Do what?" Asked Ron, confused  
  
"Narrow your eyes like that, it makes you look... like one of those... oh just tell us what you figured out"  
  
Ron nodded, "Harry, when you saw Dumbledore's pensieve, you didn't just see one long memory, you saw several different ones all at the same time-"  
  
"Yes Ron, but that was because Dumbledore didn't store them that way-"  
  
"Will you let me finish?" Snapped Ron "I know why that was but I was wondering... how does he move from memory to memory when he doesn't want to see them all?"  
  
Hermione stared at Ron as though she had just discovered something really strange about him. "I don't believe it..." She said quietly  
  
Ron looked ready to burst "Well SORRY for that lame suggestion but not all of us can be-"  
  
"No Ron, you misunderstood... I mean I never knew you had a smart side..." She smiled.  
  
Ron let his angry expression slip away and blushed.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, "What do we have to do Hermione?"  
  
***************************************************  
  
{FLASHBACK}  
  
It was dark outside.  
  
He shouldn't have been there; he knew he wasn't supposed to be there if it was dark already and he wanted to say so.  
  
"Where is it? I know it was out here somewhere..." The figure next to him was saying impatiently  
  
He bit his lip and glanced to where the other one was fumbling around in the bushes "Maybe we should just go back and look for it tomorrow Romulus..."  
  
Romulus turned and squinted in the dark "Scared are you Remus?" He sneered, "I don't blame you, little kids are supposed to be afraid of the dark,"  
  
Remus looked quickly at his brother, wanting to remark how Romulus was barely half an hour older than him, but he kept it in. He always kept stuff like that in. But hey, if Romulus wanted to get himself killed looking for his stupid toy broomstick in the middle of the night because he accidentally flew it out the bedroom window when he was supposed to be sleeping, that was his concern. Remus didn't understand why he had to come too.  
  
But he always had to come.  
  
Romulus carried on kicking the bushes and generally attracting all sorts of unwanted attention.  
  
The worst kind of unwanted attention possible in fact, but neither of them knew that...  
  
Yet...  
  
It was actually Romulus who found it.  
  
Well, it found him anyway...  
  
Remus was gazing back at the house, wishing he were safe in bed. Of course any idiot could see that somehow he and Romulus were going to be found out and after an interrogation (In which Romulus would blame Remus, and Remus would end up being too shy to object) their father would end up blaming Remus and he would get in to trouble.  
  
Again.  
  
If only he had more courage, more self-esteem. But even before the 'incident' he had no confidence in himself- and certainly none when Romulus started stuttering like a schizophrenic parrot.  
  
"R- R, Remus...!" He squeaked.  
  
The mousy haired six-year-old turned around while Romulus screamed horribly and made a run back for the house.  
  
It chased him.  
  
Remus froze at the sight of the monster. Its rough shaggy fur on end, in what Remus would later learn was a sign of dominance and power. Its fangs dripped and it snarled after its chosen prey...  
  
Romulus.  
  
Shamefully relieved that the thing was going after Romulus and not him, Remus quietly stepped back, hoping to hide himself until his someone came out to save them. He would be sad to lose Romulus, though they weren't best friends they were still brothers after all.  
  
Yet he didn't count on stepping back on to the loudest twig that had ever snapped, or so it seemed to the unfortunate child.  
  
SNAP!  
  
The werewolf skidded to a stop and swung its head around, where it detected another heart beating. The prey was just as small and weak as the prior one, but it was closer and easier to catch.  
  
Remus couldn't move with fear.  
  
The werewolf let out a feral growl and took one step forward. The prey couldn't move. This had happened before, and he knew the prey was as good as his. He could smell the blood, but he couldn't taste it yet.  
  
An unfortunate fact, which would have to be remedied quickly.  
  
He lunged...  
  
Remus let out a small whimper, staring in to the fierce amber eyes. Eyes soon to be his.  
  
Romulus was too scared to notice when the werewolf closed its jaws around his identical twin brother's shoulder.  
  
He barely even noticed the scream.  
  
And Remus' world shattered around him.  
  
********************************************  
  
No way.  
  
He had worked too hard to pick up the pieces and make something new for his life to shatter again. He liked his life at the moment, the fourth model of it he had been forced to make, and to have it end like this... especially after what they'd all been through, was too unfair.  
  
After falling apart and being put back together so many times, Remus' life was almost becoming too cracked to repair, and if it fell apart again he wasn't too sure he could put it back together.  
  
But as he found himself once again looking at the monster that was responsible for the many miseries in his life, he could feel the vase falling off the shelf.  
  
"SHIT!" Yelled Sirius "What the hell are you doing here, you murdering bastard?!"  
  
Romulus rolled his eyes, he had so hoped that moron would be dead by now...  
  
*********************************************  
  
Hey hey, It's not Sunday yet...  
  
Readers: We are not amused.  
  
Reaper: *In a Hagrid voice* Sorry about that...  
  
Birdie: *Rolls eyes*  
  
Reaper: Well, time for the usual gripes... or actually not so usual. This may seem strange, but I think I'm going to have to remove 'Fate Allowed' from the site...  
  
Birdie: WHAT!?  
  
Reaper: You see, my dad has found out about my account and wants to read my stuff. Unfortunately, as some of you may know, I have much... uhh... incriminating evidence against me in that story. (Such as: Blah blah blah... I hate my dad... Blah blah blah) But I haven't deleted it yet, and I may never do. Lucky for me, search is offline at the moment and he'll probably have forgotten what my pen name is by the time it comes back.  
  
Birdie: You're not seriously thinking of taking it off? Are you?  
  
Reaper: As a last resort I may have to take this one off too, but only until I get rid of anything that makes my dad think I hate him.  
  
Birdie: I can't believe this...  
  
Reaper: I know... Sucks don't it? Anyway, on a happier note, thank you very much to all my faithful reviewers (This Parrot has ceased to be, Howling Wolf 22, Anonymous, and Tokyoteen13) and look out for the next chapter! 


	9. Is Mortals Chiefest Enemy

OMG I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry for the long update. The reason was entirely medical I assure you.  
  
You see, I was bitten by the plague of WRITER'S BLOCK! That and my Remus angst muse died due to the lack of good fics on this site. (Hint: If any of you know any good ones, tell me about them and I might just update sooner) I spent many weeks in mourning before I finally plucked up the strength of will to create a new muse.  
  
Another pathetic excuse is that I believe in my heart that I am beginning to accept Sirius' death. I feel like such a traitor to poor Siri.  
  
On the bright side, my father has forgotten this account exists, which was helped by the fact that he has neither read the books nor seen the movies and I assured him that he would never understand it. I am hoping that one day he will forget that I exist.  
  
I forgot why I started writing this fic, and that is to give readers who were sick of Remus romances and slash to have something that they could count on reading at least once a week. I have broken my promise and must now punish myself.  
  
If any of my regular readers are still out there, then I must apologise sincerely, and I will, in future, try and do my best to update on a more regular basis.  
  
I feel I must especially apologise to one of my most loyal reviewers, This Parrot has ceased to be, to whom I promised that something like this would never happen again after my computer broke down last summer. As usual, anyone who has reviewed me since my last update will receive a special little message at the end of the fic.  
  
Without further delay I will write this chapter, and hope my skills as an authoress haven't gone drastically downhill.  
  
Chapter: Is mortals chiefest enemy  
  
"Can't we just see one more memory?" Pleaded Harry, while Ron whined along with him.  
  
Hermione gave them a look. Harry and Ron tried to look cute, but probably ended up just looking stupid.  
  
They had recently realised that their wands had appeared along with them, and according to Hermione, just by pointing them at Romulus and saying "Forward" followed by whatever amount of time you wanted to go forward, they could skip through the memories with ease. The downside to this was that they couldn't see all the memories of Romulus Lupin, meaning there would be even less of the marauders to see.  
  
And they had just forwarded one week from the sorting for an experiment.  
  
To cut a long story short...  
  
It worked.  
  
Harry and Ron begged and pleaded to be allowed to look at this memory or that memory, but Hermione always sternly reminded them that while they were having fun, Lupin and Sirius were probably suffering.  
  
Harry was still reluctant about leaving the memory scape, but reminded himself that Moony and Padfoot were so much more important than that. And besides, they could always tell him more when they all got back.  
  
So after much experimentation, they had determined that Romulus' pensieve lasted for only three years and six months. So for some reason, he left Hogwarts in the middle of his fourth year. Harry doubted he could stand four days with the jerk, let alone four years.  
  
The marauders were in detention. Not very surprising, yet still amusing to watch.  
  
Apparently, this time they had angered the German DADA teacher, Professor Schadenfreude, by putting a soup cube on top of his showerhead. The unlucky teacher still smelled of tomatoes.   
  
"OH!" Yelled the Professor "You make me so mad I vont to jump out of my German skin!"  
  
The marauders were hard pressed not to laugh. Harry, Ron and Hermione had no such restraints and immediately laughed so hard that, had they been drinking anything it would have come up out of their noses.  
  
Harry got the impression however, that like the majority, Schadenfreude deserved everything he got, as he was especially mean about Remus' condition. Although, only Peter, James and Sirius were in detention, as they had pulled the prank specially to avenge Remus.  
  
Harry perched on the desk next to where his dad was sitting, making jokes with Sirius. Remus (Who had /definitely/ had a growth spurt, making him taller than James) grinned at the others as he left. Harry moved to sit next to his dad, but Hermione stopped him.  
  
"I want to go with Remus," She explained.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes "Well go with him then!"  
  
Hermione blushed "I can't," She muttered "We have to all stay together..."  
  
"But we can't Hermione, I want to stay with my dad!" Harry said angrily. It was all right for her. She saw her parents all the time. But if the memories of a psycho were all he had of his parents, didn't he have the right to choose where they went?  
  
Hermione looked at him pleadingly, he wouldn't relent. She huffed and sat down on a desk next to Peter Pettigrew. She then realised she was sitting next to Peter Pettigrew, and hastily removed herself to the other side of the room.  
  
Ron shrugged; she'd get over it. But Harry was still looking offended.  
  
He soon forgot about Hermione's strange request as time went on, the marauders delighted in pranking Schadenfreude behind his back. Well, James and Sirius delighted in pranking, Peter was satisfied just to watch.  
  
Schadenfreude was pelted by little bits of paper, sweets, chewing gum, small stones and occasionally frogs. Once in a while his hair would change colour and anyone else unlucky enough to be stuck in detention would barely be able to control his or her laughter. Even Hermione was giggling along with the rest  
  
Half an hour later there was an ominous knock at the door.  
  
Perhaps that is going to far, the knock really didn't have anything ominous about it. But Harry had developed a knack for sensing trouble, and this was definitely trouble.  
  
McGonagall entered the room, followed closely by a bewildered looking chestnut-haired seventh year from Ravenclaw  
  
"Excuse me, Professor Schadenfreude, could I borrow Potter, Black, and Pettigrew for a moment?"  
  
McGonagall looked pale and fairly shaken, as if something dreadful had just happened. The Marauders missed this however, but didn't seem so bewildered.  
  
"Ophelia, my love!" Exclaimed Sirius dramatically.  
  
James and Peter snickered as Ophelia cuffed Sirius upside the head. Harry doubted that the two were actually going out, as Sirius (above the average height) Barely came up to the girl's chin.  
  
"Save it for the crazy freak who drowns herself, Black. The two of you would go great together—same level of sanity..."  
  
Black grasped his chest as though mortally wounded "Alas, dear friends, she loves me naught..."  
  
"Not, you idiot, I love you not!"  
  
McGonagall still had not spoken of her purpose in bringing the group together.  
  
"Oh, Ophelia—"  
  
"Zippit you wanker!" Ordered the brunette. The others were hasty to obey, "Now, ordinarily when you losers are called together by McGonagall, you've gotten yourselves in to some deep shit. But the only reason I could possibly consider for why I'M here with you, is that something's happened to my brother..."  
  
"Remus?" Asked Peter  
  
"No," Said Ophelia sarcastically "Romulus. 'Cause the teachers all know how much you love him!"  
  
A shadow passed over the girls face at the mention of Romulus. Harry, meanwhile, wondered why Remus had never told him he had a sister. He'd hate to think that she was dead.  
  
The rest of the journey had passed in silence. The observing trio were disheartened when they realised that the destination was hospital wing.  
  
"Professor McGonagall!" Shouted James "What's going on?"  
  
"Professor where's my brother?"  
  
McGonagall held up a hand, silencing them, "The headmaster will explain it to you..." She said thickly "Miss Lupin, your parents will be arriving shortly—"  
  
"My PARENTS?" Yelled Ophelia "Professor, what the HELL is"  
  
"Miss Lupin," Cut in a familiar voice. Dumbledore. "There is no need to shout, Ophelia... your brother will live—"  
  
"HE'LL LIVE!?" Ophelia was visibly enraged and stressed out. Her cheeks had gone red and her eyes were bloodshot.  
  
"Hush now!" Dumbledore raised a finger to his lips "You had better come inside Ophelia... and you too Mr Black... Yes Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew you had better come in as well..."  
  
"Professor..."  
  
"Not now Mr Potter, Mr Snape had better explain it to you I think—"  
  
Now that caused an uproar.  
  
While the marauders and Ophelia were shouting themselves hoarse, Harry turned to the other two. "You don't think Snape... Tried to kill Lupin, do you?" He asked  
  
"Maybe he accidentally went too far..." Said Hermione uncertainly  
  
"Or maybe he's just a stupid greasy murdering bas—"  
  
"Ron!" Hermione snapped, "How many times must we tell you, SNAPE IS NOT EVIL!"  
  
"But we know he /was/ a death eater once, so—"  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SNAPE!?" Roared Sirius as he stormed into the hospital wing, eyes blazing and looking ready to kill. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed hastily. A fifteen-year-old Severus Snape was sitting in a chair, visibly on the verge of a panic attack and covered in blood. Taken back by the appearance of his foe, Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. Ophelia however was fuelled to go forward by this sight and immediately grabbed Snape by the lapels and shook him hard.  
  
"YOU BASTARD! YOU BASTARD, YOU KILLED MY BROTHER, DIDN'T YOU? DIDN'T YOU?"  
  
"Miss Lupin, please calm down!" Said Dumbledore in a voice far too calm for the situation "Mr Snape has not harmed your brother—indeed, he has probably saved him!"  
  
"WHAT!?" Yelled seven voices simultaneously, That is... The marauders, Ophelia, and the intrepid trio. Snape? Save Lupin? It did not seem possible. Of all the strange occurrences they just had to add the most confusing one of all...  
  
Dumbledore sighed, "Perhaps you'd better explain, Mr Snape..."  
  
Snape looked as though explaining to three very angry enemies of his and an enraged overprotective big sister of someone who was obviously in some sort of mortal peril was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. But after receiving a stern look from Professor McGonagall, he decided to speak. Or rather, squeak...  
  
"I-I-I I was just ......leaving p-p-p-potions w-when I saw Lupin... and we...uhh... we threw insults at each other... and... and then—"  
  
"Get to the point, Snivellus!" Snarled Sirius  
  
"Then-Romulus-came-in-and-stabbed-him-and-I-carried-him-to-hospital-wing!"  
  
"ROMULUS DID WHAT!?" Screamed Ophelia  
  
Harry and Ron gasped in shock, Hermione screamed. The Marauders stopped glaring and lost all colour in their faces.  
  
"'Strue, 'Phelia..." Stated a bored voice from the corner. Everyone, memory or viewer, turned around to look at Romulus Lupin, still with the little halo above his head, slouching in a chair in the corner. Sirius and James both ran, fists at the ready to harm Romulus in whatever way possible, but Ophelia got there first.  
  
SMACK  
  
"HOW COULD YOU!" She shrieked "YOU KILLED YOUR OWN BROTHER! YOUR TWIN!"  
  
The marauders stopped dead in their tracks, as Ophelia, in her current state of anger, probably was too far gone to differentiate friend from foe.  
  
"Miss Lupin, please, calm yourself!"  
  
"He's not my brother! He's a—"  
  
Dumbledore gained an expression of extreme panic at this, and motioned for Romulus to be silent. Beneath the worry, however, Harry could recognise a terrible anger in his eyes "I think, perhaps, that it is time Mr Snape went back to his common room..." He suggested.  
  
Madame Pomfrey, in tears, pulled Snape up to his feet and pushed him towards McGonagall. The Transfiguration professor Ushered Snape out of the room. Romulus called after him,  
  
"I'll kill you too, viper!"  
  
Snape whipped his head around and sneered at the psycho before disappearing to the other side of the door.  
  
The remaining figures breathed heavily. Through her anger, Ophelia managed to speak "Now, my DEAR brother, what were you saying..."  
  
"That mongrel is not my brother," Hissed Romulus. Harry could feel his blood start to boil, and by the looks of it, so was everyone else's. Even Dumbledore was looking angry.  
  
And when Dumbledore starts to get angry, you know the fireworks are going to fly.  
  
Romulus seemed immune to the murderous glares directed at him, "I hate him, and you should too!" He snapped, "He's nothing but a flea-bitten—"  
  
"Don't you dare—"  
  
"Filthy little—"  
  
"Shut up before you—"  
  
"Mudblood-loving—"  
  
"You're going to regret—"  
  
"MONSTER!"  
  
There was a deadly silence.  
  
"YES! A monster! A deadly murderous cold-blooded werewolf! It's not like he has feelings anyway! They should all be killed and mounted on the wall—AHHHH!"  
  
'AHHHH' was not part of whatever nonsense Romulus thought about his twin. It was instead the noise he made when Sirius kicked him between the legs.  
  
"One more word out of you and I'll..."  
  
"Do your worst, Black!" Hissed Romulus, clutching his privates, Harry noticed that his voice was strangely high, and would have laughed had the situation not been so utterly void of humour, "Our father is coming to pick us up Ophelia..." He wheezed "He entrusted me to get rid of the werewolf so me, you, and mum could go off with him..."  
  
Ophelia sank to the floor in horror, as if she had been mortally wounded in a battle she could never hope to win... "Dad told you to do this?" She whispered  
  
"Yeah, dad!" Sneered Romulus "We're going to live in Romania..."  
  
"Romania?" She gasped "But... but what about school and my NEWT's and... and..."  
  
"'Snot like Romania doesn't have schools,"  
  
"But my friends!"  
  
"Ahhh, you'll make new ones..."  
  
Ophelia stood up with an almost renewed strength and glared defiantly down at her little brother "No I wont," She snapped  
  
"Of course you will—"  
  
"No. I won't. And I wont because I'm not going to Romania, I'm staying here with Remus!"  
  
Romulus groaned, "That's why dad told me to get rid of him! He knew you and mum would never leave him, now I'll have to finish the job!"  
  
"You will do NO such thing!"  
  
"WHAT is going on here?"  
  
A new presence entered the room. Two people, a man and a woman walked in together. The woman had cropped brown hair and a quiet mousish appearance. The man had cold ice blue eyes, and it was obvious to the three unlucky viewers that these were Remus' parents.  
  
The woman was looking confused and slightly worried, Harry doubted she'd been told the whole story, if she had been told any of the story at all.  
  
The man on the other hand was looking stern yet vaguely shifty. The woman spoke first.  
  
"Ophelia, darling, what has happened, you look like you've been crying!" She gasped "Romulus, where's Remus?"  
  
Romulus ignored her. Ophelia threw her arms around the woman and begun sobbing. Harry caught the word 'mum' in between tears, confirming his suspicion.  
  
"Ophelia, oh Ophelia, darling what happened? Why are you crying sweetie? Darling? Ophelia, what's happened? Ophelia tell me, say something please!" The woman was getting frantic now as her motherly instinct told her something terrible had happened.  
  
The group was led in to another room. On a bed, swathed in white sheets and bandages was Remus. Harry had seen him look worse only once, and that was when Sirius had carried him through the fire last February, after Lucius Malfoy and that cow Umbridge had locked him up. The only way you could tell his face from the sheets was by the dark eyelashes, the eyebrows and the pale lilac lips. Harry imagined that the distinct loss of colour stemmed from blood loss.  
  
The woman (Harry really wished he knew her name so he could stop calling her 'the woman') screamed at the sight of her son and sank to the ground next to his bed, still holding Ophelia. Sirius, James, and Peter all crowded round the other side of the bed, lost for words. Remus was unconscious.  
  
"Is it dead?" Asked the man.  
  
Harry wished he could've hit the man, or hexed him, or thrown him in to a pit of poisonous snakes, but was tragically unable to. Ron, however, accidentally forgot this and ran right through him; it was frustrating having nothing there to take his anger out on. Somehow the three remaining marauders managed to keep their cool even when they actually had the option of punching the guy. Harry was startled to see Peter with tears running down his chubby cheeks, and James with watery eyes. Only Sirius was not on the verge of tears, he looked more like he was on the verge of exploding with anger.  
  
"Sorry dad," Said Romulus nonchalantly "There was some other stupid git nearby. He was a viper..."  
  
"A viper? Figures." The man shook his head "Pity though, I'll have to finish the job myself then..."  
  
"Now that..." Said Dumbledore, his voice deadly calm "Is something I will not allow..."  
  
"What do you think you can do, Dummy?" Everyone gasped at the slander to Dumbledore's name (Except Dumbledore) "You know I have every right to terminate that little demon,"  
  
The woman seemed frozen with shock and despair "No!" She cried out pitifully "Jonathan—Jonathan what have you done?"  
  
"What I should've done a long time ago, Julia!" Sneered the man, staring at the witch on the floor, holding her sobbing daughter. "Getting that hell sent half blood out of our lives!"  
  
"Oh Jonathan, no"  
  
"Julia, don't be foolish, you can come with your husband, son, and daughter and start a new wonderful life, avenging our son's death in Romania, or you can stay with a flea bitten mongrel and starve to death in poverty!"  
  
"Our son isn't dead!"  
  
"HE DIED THE MOMENT HE WAS BITTEN JULIA!" Jonathan thundered. Julia flinched as though she expected him to hit her, "NOW CHOOSE!"  
  
He pulled out a dagger and everyone screamed (Except Dumbledore) Harry almost smiled when the marauders stood protectively over Remus. He remembered back when Ron and Hermione had tried to protect him from Sirius when they still thought he was a mass murderer who had betrayed Harry's parents. But they needn't have worried. The dagger was gone almost two seconds after Jonathan pulled it out. A puff of smoke and Jonathan was left staring stupidly at his empty hand.  
  
"I thought I made myself quite clear, Jonathan, when I told you that I would not allow you to abuse my students in any way, shape or form... Now would you please remove yourself from my presence!" Said Dumbledore in a voice and manner that frightened everyone standing around him.  
  
"Then I will make my exit" Snarled Jonathan, grabbing Romulus' hand "Come on, Ophelia! We're leaving!"  
  
Ophelia stared at him, enraged, "Screw you, arsehole!"  
  
Jonathan turned around angrily "Don't you take that tone with me young lady! You stay here and you'll end up bitten by a werewolf and fatter than you already are!"  
  
"I'M NOT FAT!" She screamed. (And it was indeed, very true, Ophelia was as thin as a bean shoot)  
  
"You'll regret this!" He yelled back "You and the little bastard!"  
  
Unable to take any more insults to his friend's condition, James picked up the nearest object and heaved it at Jonathan's retreating back. Unfortunately, the nearest object happened to be a trolley.  
  
CRASH  
  
"ARGHHHHHH!" Bellowed Jonathan, staggering around "You will regret that, boy!"  
  
And with that, he grabbed Romulus' arm forcefully and threw a handful of powder in to the fireplace.  
  
"Thorpe Acre!" He yelled angrily, disappearing with Romulus into the fire.  
  
And with that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione also disappeared. Back to the future.  
  
(Grins and nods to TokyoTeen13)  
  
(Imitating a supply teacher, Ms. Bjierrgard or something) Oh, you make me so mad I want to jump out of my Danish skin! You will not be having the lunch break! You will spend the lunch break with me!  
  
Heh heh heh  
  
So, Twitches angrily who's seen the third movie? Twitch twitch for those of you who haven't, here's a tip.  
  
DON'T  
  
I can't believe they made Lupin so UGLY! ARGHH! And of course, here's an imitation of the scene in the shrieking shack:  
  
Hermione: If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!  
  
Sirius: There will only be one death tonight  
  
Harry: Then it'll be you! (Knocks Sirius to the floor) I hate you!  
  
(Remus enters and disarms Harry)  
  
Sirius: Hello Remus  
  
Remus: You're mad  
  
(They hug)  
  
Hermione: He's a werewolf!  
  
Remus: You're smart.  
  
Harry: I hate you!  
  
Remus: You don't understand! It's about Peter Pettigrew!  
  
(Snape enters)  
  
Snape: (to Sirius) I hate you  
  
Sirius: I hate you too  
  
Snape: You're probably gay with the werewolf. Yay! I captured Sirius Black!  
  
Harry: (Knocks Snape out) What about Pettigrew  
  
Sirius: He's alive, and he's your friend's rat!  
  
Ron: No!  
  
Sirius: Yes!  
  
(Remus and Sirius turn Scabbers back into Pettigrew)  
  
Peter: Remus! Sirius! My friends!  
  
Sirius: Let's kill him!  
  
Remus: O.k!  
  
Harry: No! We'll give him to the dementors!  
  
Remus and Sirius: O.k.  
  
(They all leave the shack while making amusing comments that never appeared in the book)  
  
Sirius: Wanna live with me?  
  
Harry: O.k!  
  
Remus: (Turns in to a werewolf) Grrrrrr!  
  
Sirius: Oh dear.  
  
Yes, that's what it was like (Okay, so I exaggerated, so sue me) anyway, for everyone else...  
  
This Parrot has ceased to be: I am soooo sorry Suddenly becomes a cute cuddly kitten in a cookie basket Pwease forgive me! .. I pwomise not to do it again! (Birdie: Of course a promise from you is like leprechaun gold, it disappears after a while...)  
  
Howling Wolf 22: I'd never abandon this story! I'm sorry to keep you waiting; thank you so much for reviewing and I'm sorry I didn't get to the Romulus/Remus confrontation, that's the next chapter!  
  
Tokyo Teen13: Thank you for the generous offer Smiles Means a lot, but I think I'm safe for now. I did borrow your idea though hee hee hee! Thanx for everything, sorry about the long wait!  
  
Neoma: Thanx loads! I finally updated!  
  
JeanieBeanie33: WHOOP! Haven't seen you in a while! Thanx for finding me, and thank you for the review!  
  
Vora: Definitely continuing, sorry for misleading you there, glad you liked it and hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
  
xxaninsomniacsnightmarexx: YAY! You're back! (Tries to refrain from sounding like an airhead fangirl) I'm so glad you found me! And I'm a little glad you're not lonely and fading anymore Grins I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one's coming sooner than you'd think!  
  
Once again, thank you everyone and until next time! (For there will be a next time) 


	10. Turn, Hell Hound!

HEY! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ALL MY GAPS!  
  
I just looked over my story and noticed that all the little lines of stars (Which smart people call asterisks) were gone! Wtf? And it wasn't just the lines; the stars I used to describe actions were gone too, making it practically impossible to read the fic!  
  
Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but still, what am I going to do  
  
Oh, I didn't mention did I? Well I now have my very own Laptop on which I am writing this chapter! Yay!   
  
Has anyone else had problems with stars not showing up? Or anything else not showing up? If they have please tell me... not that it will help, but hey... it's nice to know you're not alone!  
  
In this latest instalment, which is too short for words, everyone meets up and stuff. Oh just read the damn thing!

Chapter 10: Turn, Hell Hound!"Welcome back, boy!"  
  
An eerie cold voice sounded in Harry's ear, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was Romulus Lupin, and he felt a surge of hatred after what he had just seen for the bastard who... who... He was far too angry to finish that thought.  
  
"Romulus," He said between gritted teeth.  
  
Romulus smirked unpleasantly and Harry once again found himself wondering how he could ever have mistaken him for Remus. "I recognise you now... Potter, wasn't it? You're related to that lunatic James Potter?"  
  
"Don't you dare insult my father!" Hissed Harry angrily  
  
"Your father? Well I can't say I'm surprised, what with the way Potter was always hanging around those Gryffindor sluts," He laughed, "You probably have about a hundred half brothers and sisters around the country!"  
  
Harry saw red and tried to kick at Romulus, but then realised that he couldn't actually move. He was able to turn his head far enough to see that Ron and Hermione had been subjected to a full bodybind curse. Harry, meanwhile was in a bodybind from the neck downwards, enabling him to speak.  
  
Romulus continued with his rant about Harry's family, and Harry found himself comparing the jerk to that bully Malfoy. "But of course, I can tell who your mother was... don't remember her name though..."  
  
"What do you want with me?"  
  
Romulus laughed, "What do I want with you?" He asked, "What makes you assume I want anything to do with you, boy?" He shook his head "You randomly appear at my home, probably sent by dear old Remus so he could plot his revenge, and ask me what I want with you?"  
  
"Remus didn't send us," Harry said coolly  
  
"Oh you expect me to believe that? You're more foolish than I thought, Potter... I know the way my brother's mind works. He sent you here so he could have an excuse to come himself and kill my family and I while we slept. He's obsessed with revenge, that werewolf, he'd do anything to hurt me..."  
  
What?  
  
Remus Lupin, Moony, obsessed with revenge and killing? Harry couldn't even begin to fathom how Romulus had figured that out. Perhaps the fact that Harry was quite sure he was clinically insane had something to do with the misconception. Perhaps Romulus actually hoped to get Harry to turn against Remus by convincing him that werewolves were pure evil. Either way, Harry was getting fed up with that jerks' prejudice against werewolves and tried to form a plan to get everyone out safely.  
  
Romulus continued ranting, "Of course, unlike so many cases I've come across over the years, dear Remus was always so good at hiding it. He could've just started crying like a girl and everyone would love him. Well, they wouldn't if they knew what he was!"  
  
He spat the words out as though any words that described his brother left a bad taste in his mouth. He said 'cases' as though they weren't even sentient creatures. The worst part though, was that it was true that people would hate him if they knew what he was.  
  
"I'm glad though..." Romulus said, "I can finally get rid of him after all these years of waiting, worrying about the safety of my children, which I should never of had to worry about!" He snarled angrily.  
  
Harry's heart skipped a beat, "What do you mean?" He asked, positively dreading the answer.  
  
"Thanks to you, my long lost twin has finally made his reappearance in my life, just when everything was going so well..."  
  
Oh no.  
  
"And even better, his idiotic boyfriend Serial Black came with him, so that's two birds with one stone! Only I can't kill Black, can I? Tragically, although he has the same brain as a flobberworm, he's as human as you or I. Well, maybe not quite as human as me, but human give or take..."  
  
Harry's heart dropped down to his stomach now he knew for sure that Remus and Sirius were here. He didn't even bother to cry out in indignation at the slander to Remus and Sirius' friendship, or to correct Romulus on Sirius' name. But what was interesting was that Romulus seemed to have no idea what had happened in Britain since he left. Harry wondered if he'd even heard of Voldemort. He decided no, as if the bastard had heard of him then he would have dropped everything he had to go join him.  
  
But this was good in a way, because it meant that Romulus didn't know that Sirius was wanted for murder all over the country. Otherwise he'd have turned him in to the authorities at the drop of a hat.  
  
"Well," Said Romulus, looking a little out of breath, "I'm going to put you somewhere quiet until my father and I figure out what to do with you..."  
  
And with that, he levitated them about ten centimetres in to the air and magically dragged them behind him. Harry remained silent; knowing that nothing he said could help him. Ron on the other hand, would have screamed and yelled for all he was worth about the prejudice bastards Romulus and his family were. Hermione had tears in her eyes.  
  
Harry's thoughts were wild and confused when he passed through corridor to corridor, trying not to look at the mounted werewolf heads.  
  
They eventually came back to the dining room, where Harry instantly saw Sirius and Remus tied to two chairs.  
  
"SIRIUS!" He called, Sirius' head snapped up and turned to face him. He began another hopeless struggle to escape from his magically tied bonds.  
  
"HARRY!" He cried back. One of Romulus' brother or cousin-in-laws slapped him hard across the mouth, splitting his lip.  
  
Remus was unconscious and his temple was bleeding.  
  
"Get them up," Said Jonathan, creeping in from the shadows, Harry was thunderstruck to see Fred and George Weasley also unconscious and tied to chairs.  
  
A man with a unibrow grabbed the twins while one who had his hair in a long plait stunned Sirius before dragging him to the other side of the room. Romulus carried Remus himself and Harry, Ron and Hermione followed, pushed by Anastasia. They were pulled out of the room through many more corridors and a typically evil looking spiral staircase, decorated with flaming torches every few steps.  
  
Apart from the torches, Harry found himself travelling in utter darkness. It was an unnerving feeling, and he couldn't help but feel elated whenever they passed by a torch.  
  
Soon, they were lead in to a mouldy smelling room, which was dripping. The seven unlucky companions were dumped unceremoniously on to the floor where the men unbinded them, then left, slamming the door and turning the key.  
  
Upon being thrown to the ground, Remus regained consciousness. He did not however, in his wildest imaginings, expect what happened next,"  
  
"Remus, amigo?" Came a voice from the corner, "Is it you?"  
  
The group turned to see a dark-skinned young man looking cold, miserable, hungry and shocked.  
  
"Nacho?!"Reaper: Ha, I couldn't resist!  
  
Thank you everybody (Neoma (thanks for the stories, update!), This Parrot has ceased to be (Kittens are cute... ah well, it'll be a chocolate kitten!), Howling Wolf22 (Cowers from Cyclone and types like her life depends on it), Seven, Birdie, and xxaninsomiacsnightmarexx(PoA is my favourite too!) and I apologise for the fact that this chapter is so short (and probably crappy) but I'm a bit pressed for time. Blame my school for making us go camping.  
  
Who's seen 'Troy'? I have. Who thought it was good? Ah, it was all right... sometimes!  
  
See you all next week! (Or possibly the week after) 


	11. Alaurmed by his Sentinel the Wolf

Ahem… umm… Merry Christmas?

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Chapter 11: Alaurmed by his Sentinel the Wolf

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Severus Snape would never admit to anyone that he had saved Remus Lupin's life. It was, quite frankly, embarrassing.

And it wasn't embarrassing because he hated Remus Lupin, because back then of course he hadn't known what he was. Back then he had probably hated Romulus more, but the thing was he was embarrassed about was that he had done nothing to stop it.

Despite many rumours about his home life, Severus had, up until then, never seen one person stab another, and especially not twins. He had frozen, upon seeing it… the dagger had been partially silver but he assumed that Romulus had charmed it with a heat spell, because how else could there have been those burns? The twin thing had made it especially bizarre, it was like a mirror had shattered or something.

He had never liked Remus Lupin. One could say he detested the werewolf, but still upon seeing him stabbed there had been that little voice, /do something/ it had told him, /you may not like him but you can't let him die/ He had frozen though, he couldn't do anything… Romulus had barely thrown him a glance after brutally stabbing his twin, and Severus had watched as the marauder slumped to the floor.

Severus decided to run for help. He had brought professor McGonagall to the scene of the crime to deal with it. He had then been forced to stay at hospital wing until the rest of the moronic marauders and Lupin's crazy sister had appeared to accuse him. Perhaps it was Minerva's hope that it may finally bring Slytherin and Gryffindor together in the bonds of love and friendship…

Yeah right.

One may wonder, he supposed, why on earth he had preferred the goody-goody heart-of-gold pathetic nerd Remus to his fellow Slytherin, Romulus. Looking back on it now it had been the most stupid of anything he could think of, but the fact was that shortly after Tom Riddle left, and argument had broken out between two Slytherins on…something, no one was quite sure. This had inevitably lead to a schism in the happy house, two rival gangs working against each other, much like Slytherin and Gryffindor had been for… well forever really. The two gangs called themselves the 'Pythons' and the 'Vipers'. Severus had been a member of the viper group for most of his time at hogwarts, hanging out with fellow vipers, Bellatrix, Rosier, Rudolph… all those bastards.

Romulus, in case you haven't guessed, was a python. Both sides were constantly picking at each other for no apparent reason. The quidditch team were all pythons but the average viper was twice as smart. What a load of bollocks that episode in Slytherin history was.

And he had to admit; Romulus would have been a death eater if he'd stayed in England. There was no doubt about it, he hated muggle-borns, Gryffindors, muggles in general, and of course half breeds. Like his twin, he was skilled, would have made the perfect death eater.

He also had to admit that he still hated Romulus Lupin more than the werewolf. But that didn't matter really; the moron had dragged his pet and the dumb and dumber twins over to Romania to deal with some insane people with out any idea who they were. Nitwits.

So once again it had been left to Severus to deal with the overlooked crucial details, and oh bollocks would you look at that.

Ivanova Manor, Property of Leon Ivanova and…

Oh bugger it,

"Albus!" He called, his voice betraying his frustration and annoyance, "Guess who Potter managed to end up with this time…!"

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"Nacho, what are you doing here?!"

The dark-skinned man gaped and made fish movements with his mouth, then he laughed, "Ola, amigo…I did not expect to see you here…let alone two of you!"

Remus grimaced and shook his head as if in disapproval, but it was Sirius who explained the problem,

"Remus has an evil twin"

Nacho remained expressionless, "Oh," He commented "That would explain much, I suppose…" Nodding his head he seemed to accept the fact and glanced quizzically at Sirius

"Oh yeah, I'm Sirius Black,"

"The mass murderer?"

"Yeah, that's me"

"Oh."

There was a pause "Not really," admitted Sirius, "And that's Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Kids accidentally got themselves transported here… didn't really consider that Remus' psycho-relatives were living here"

Harry cleared his throat in an effort to say something along the lines of 'wasn't our fault' and 'who is this guy?' He looked pointedly at his godfather and former teacher. The twins were still unconscious and Sirius couldn't move. Ron was sitting near his brothers looking worried while Hermione remained near Harry. Remus, as per usual whenever anything stressful happened, was concealing his emotions beneath a pensive mask. Luckily, He seemed to understand exactly what Harry meant.

"Children, this is Nacho, he's another werewolf, from Spain. We… erm… met last February with Dolores Umbridge and the rest, but Nacho was released early on account of Spanish politics,"

Nacho smiled, "Unfortunately, The government has no idea I'm out here, so bad luck for me. I was here on holiday—" For some reason Remus laughed at this, "And I got lost in the forest, trying to find a colony… unfortunately, I met up with a man with one eyebrow instead, name of Andre. Brought me here, alarm go off and boom—here I am,"

"Might I suggest you stay at home next time Nacho?"

The Spanish werewolf grinned, "How is the Mad-girl?"

"Maddy's fine, Nacho—and so is everyone else"

"Even Theodosius?" He said, his tone of voice giving away that he hoped that was not the case,

"Turns out," Sirius cut in, "Weasel eyebrows was working for Voldemort!"

"Ahhhh, I am not surprised,"

Remus took a deep breath and surveyed the situation. He dragged Sirius (engaging in a short sequence of jibes about weight along the way) to one side of the room. The stunning spell had been rather sloppy so it would eventually wear off. Fred was beginning to come around while George also started to stir. Harry, Ron and Hermione helped them up.

Remus then looked at the trio with raised eyebrows, "Questions?" He inquired

Harry blinked, trying to figure out what he was saying. Questions? What would he have questions about? He had already seen—oh yeah, Lupin didn't know he had seen—"No professor, err… Romulus already told us most of the story, although I don't quite understand the bit about Snape helping you, or being a…a viper?"

Remus looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened in recognition, "Oh that?" He laughed, "That was one of the stupidest… well Harry, a few years after Voldemort left Hogwarts, an argument about god knows what broke out amongst the Slytherins, leading to the formation of two rival gangs—the vipers and the pythons, Severus and Romulus were on opposite sides"

"Really?!" Harry gasped, "I had figured that Snape and your brother were friends!"

"Good lord no!" Lupin chuckled, "Now Harry, how is it that I, an unemployed fugitive earn the title of professor while Severus, respected potions master of Hogwarts is known only as 'Snape' to you? Hmm,"

Harry grinned; Sirius snickered, "Because he's a slimy git, Remus!"

Remus rolled his eyes.

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At what Fred guessed was the middle of the night, mostly everyone else had fallen asleep thinking of escape. There had yet to be any genius plans put forth, even from Hermione who had been a bit traumatised by the day's events, but Sirius and Remus were confident that something would come up. Good old Moony and Padfoot. Hah! Moony and Padfoot, Fred remembered his and George's reaction when they first found out. Imagine that.

But Fred wasn't thinking about the marauders map or the true identity of Moony and Padfoot, he was thinking more of the true identity of Remus Lupin, because in Fred's experience, when you had a twin, you were never known as 'Fred' It was always 'Fred and George' Not that he minded, of course he didn't mind, he enjoyed it actually—made him stand out a bit more from the crowd.

The ties of family were hard to break. True, Percy had stretched them a little last year, but after his aid in setting Lupin and sixteen other werewolves free, all was forgiven and forgotten.

He doubted that this was the case with the Lupins. Percy had made a bad decision regarding loyalties. Romulus, or so Fred had heard, had been nudged in to attempting fratricide by his own father! The sheer physical impossibility confused Fred to no end. Of course it did, how could he understand when he and George had barely fallen out over anything in their lives.

But why? A voice inside his head yelled, why would anyone do that to his own twin? It made no sense. He glanced over at Lupin, sitting next to Sirius' still struggling-to-move form, fast asleep (As far as he could tell)

His little brother and friends were huddled in a corner, opposite from the weird Spaniard.

George was right next to him, looking him straight in the eye.

"Hey," He whispered

"Hey," George whispered back

"No matter what… I'd never do that to you," He clarified with himself and his twin. Of course, George knew he wouldn't but it seemed like under the circumstances that they needed to say it out loud.

"Me neither…"

They sat in a comfortable silence for the next few hours, listening to the steady drip from the ceiling (what the hell was that drip anyway) and doing nothing much of anything. Fred wondered at one point if he had even fallen asleep.

Well, if he had, it sure didn't last.

BOOM!

Eight pairs of eyes snapped open at the horrendously piercing explosion. It took them a little time to realise that where there had once been a wall…there was now a large smoking pile of dusty rubble.

Unable to think of what this may mean due to the unexpectedness of the disturbance, Fred watched in shock as a young woman leapt over the wreckage.

"We've disabled the forcefield," She announced in a heavy Romanian accent, flicking a strand of dust coated fringe from her eyes, "But you need to move fast if we're going to get you out of here!"

Lost for any words, Fred mechanically rose to his feet and stumbled over to the newly made 'exit'. Remus Lupin however, was not so lost for words. Waving his hand through the suffocating dust cloud he cried out "Who are you?!"

The woman smiled, "My name is Nadezdha, but you may call me Nadia," She paused, "I'm your little sister, Remus,"

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Birdie: Reaper is busy cowering in a corner right now but she asked me to thank her reviewers and extend her hopes that 2005 will be a better year for finishing this fic. She'd also like to recommend a fic called 'Oblivious' by Jess Pallas to everyone, because it's much better than this piece of crap (Her words, not mine… I swear it!) Merry Christmas everyone!


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